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Women wear protective face masks near Sultanahmet Mosque also known as the Blue Mosque as the nation tries to contain the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in Istanbul on March 17, 2020. Image Credit: AFP

Istanbul: Turkey confirmed its first novel coronavirus-related death on Tuesday as the number of cases in the country has risen to 98.

“Today I lost my first patient in our fight against coronavirus,” Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told a televised press conference, adding that the patient was an 89-year-old man.