Turkish police charged four people, including the organisers and a DJ, after a weekend coronavirus house party in Istanbul where some guests dressed up as doctors, AFP quoted local officials as saying.

The party, thrown at a villa in the Buyukcekmece district on Saturday night, was shared live on social media but received criticism for ignoring social distancing pleas.

“These idiots have organised a home party somewhere in Istanbul,” one Twitter user posted, adding that “those idiots!!!” would make it difficult to stop the spread of the virus.

Police watched the social media broadcast, then initally detained 11 people, including the organisers and DJ. Four were charged with “disobeying the regulations on infectious diseases”, the Istanbul governor's office said in a statement late Sunday.