ANKARA: Turkey on Monday reopened most restaurants for indoor dining and allowed more students to return to school as it rolled back tough coronavirus restrictions. The nation of 83 million people considers itself relatively lucky after recording less than 29,000 virus deaths and avoiding soaring daily tolls suffered in European countries such as Britain and France.

But the economic cost of Turkish health restrictions has been high. The government shut down all restaurants for indoor dining in November and imposed weekend lockdowns nationwide. These measures will now be lifted in regions with lower infection rates.