ANKARA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- More than 40,000 healthcare professionals have tested positive for COVID-19 in Turkey since the pandemic outbreak, while the number of the medical staff who lost their lives from the infection has reached 107, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday.

"The number of deaths (among healthcare professionals) has also increased recently," Koca said at a press conference.

Meanwhile, Turkey confirmed 1,671 new COVID-19 cases and 57 more deaths, raising the total number of diagnosed patients to 340,450 and the death toll to 9,014, the Turkish Health Ministry announced.

Turkish health professionals conducted 115,328 tests in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall number of tests to 11,961,670.

A total of 1,396 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, raising the tally of recoveries to 298,368 in Turkey since the outbreak.

The rate of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients is 5.9 percent and the number of seriously ill patients is 1,418.

Turkey reported the first COVID-19 case on March 11.

Turkey and China have supported each other in the fight against COVID-19. Chinese doctors and medical experts held video conferences with Turkish counterparts to share China's experience in treating coronavirus patients, protecting medical workers, and controlling the spread of the virus.