Covid-19: Turkey tightens rules in public areas, makes face masks mandatory

Vegetable seller Veli Yildirim, 50, said the measures came "too late".

Turkey stepped up controls Saturday on crowded public spaces including markets and ferries in Istanbul, a day after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan imposed the use of face masks to curb the coronavirus outbreak.

The death toll in the country of 83 million people has now topped 500, according to official figures published on Saturday, while the number of cases has reached nearly 24,000 -- most of them in the economic capital Istanbul.

From Saturday, all those going out to shops or markets must wear a face mask, Erdogan said, calling on the population to maintain a distance of "three paces"