Ali Yerlikaya said on Twitter that there is a continuous drop in the positive COVID-19 cases in Istanbul and the districts which saw the fastest drops were Arnavutköy, Beyoğlu and Avcılar.
Turkey has been implementing curfew on weeknights and full weekend curfews since Dec. 5 as part of measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus. The curfew begins on Friday at 9 p.m. and ends on Monday at 5 a.m. local time. In mid-November, Turkey introduced new COVID-19 restrictions, including a partial weekend curfew.
Some sectors including production, supply, health and agriculture are be exempt from the curfews. Supermarkets, grocery stores, butchers and dried fruit shops operate between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekends. Bakeries are also open during weekend curfews.
Meanwhile, restaurants only offer delivery services between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The announcement came after a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in Turkey.