Turkey will send medical equipment including masks to the United States to help its NATO ally in the fight against the coronavirus, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.
The US is the worst-hit country with nearly 55,000 deaths and more than 960,000 confirmed infections, according to Johns Hopkins University figures.
Turkey will send masks—including the coveted N95 type—as well as face and eye shields, protective garments and disinfectants to the US on Tuesday, Erdogan said during a televised speech in Istanbul.
The president said Ankara had provided equipment to 55 countries during the pandemic.
Erdogan also announced that this weekend’s lockdown in Turkey would be extended by one day to include Friday, May 1, a national public holiday.
He added that all-day weekend curfews would last throughout the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began on Friday, until Eid al-Fitr, which marks its end.
“God willing we will have a double celebration at the end of Ramadan,” he said.
Eid will fall towards the end of May, after which Turkey hopes domestic tourism could resume in June.
Turkey has recorded 2,805 deaths and 110,130 confirmed cases of infections, according to health ministry figures on Sunday.