Turkey's total confirmed cases stood at 69,392, he said. Some 875 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, Koca added. The total number of recovered cases stood at 5,674 as of April 15.
Koca also said 34,090 tests were conducted over the past day, with the overall number of tests reaching 477,716.
Turkey is currently treating 1,820 patients in intensive care units, along with 1,052 intubated patients, according to the infographic Koca shared on Twitter.
On April 14, the minister had said that the rate of rise in coronavirus cases has been seeing a downward trend as in the fourth week of the outbreak in Turkey. The spread is “under control,” he added.
The overall screening is not the right method to get reliable results, Koca said. “We make progress by pinpointing [the target].”
Mentioning the filiation method of screening the chain of contact in infectious disease, he said Turkey uses the method to reach people infected by the coronavirus, monitor them, and isolate the diagnosed for treatment.
Family physicians played an important role in the filiation process, he said.
The follow-up information about people suspected to be infected with the virus is shared with the family physicians and they observe whether the patients develop symptoms or not, he added.
Turkey has 4,600 filiation teams that are following up to 251,028 people.
“As of [April 14], 261,989 people have been identified in the contact chain and approximately 96 percent of them have been tracked,” Koca said.
On the plasma therapy, Koca said the treatment of coronavirus patients with this cure is growing in Turkey. The number of people recovered after the therapy is also rising.
“I think we will see peak [of coronavirus outbreak] in the next couple of weeks unless there is a new fluctuation,” he added.
Medicine supplied before any confirmed cases
The minister also said Turkey supplied the medicine, which is currently in use for COVID-19 treatment before there were any confirmed cases in the country.
He said “the world is after this medicine” and Turkey has a supply of about 1 million boxes. He also underlined that there is no other country in the world that uses medicine, other than China, as intensely as Turkey.
Regarding any cooperation to develop a vaccine, Koca said that Turkey attaches more importance to own clinical work.