11 held in Turkey for house party despite anti-coronavirus measures

Turkish police detained 11 people for joining a party in a villa in Istanbul despite the government's strict measures against the outbreak of COVID-19, a local media outlet reported Monday.

The police took action when the party was broadcast live on social media by one of the partygoers and went viral on several platforms, the private Demiroren news agency said.

The account owner was quoted by the agency as saying she received a text message with location details that invited her to the party after midnight on Sunday.

"I immediately called a taxi and joined the party in the Buyucekmece district," she said, adding there were around 80 people inside the villa.

The photos showed people dancing with their protective suits, gloves, and surgical masks.

The police sealed the villa and detained 11 people but later released seven of them, Demiroren said.

The detainees would be put under two months of house arrest for violating the measures related to infectious diseases, according to the report.

The death toll from COVID-19 in Turkey climbed to 131 and the number of confirmed cases rose to 9,217 on Sunday, according to Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.

Last week, the government announced a series of new and stronger measures, including travel restrictions, to prevent the fast spread of the virus.