Alpay Azap, a member of Turkey's Coronavirus Science Council, said on Wednesday that Turkey has reached the COVID-19’s critical level of spreading fast with approximately 100 cases.
Underlining that Turkey has lost its chance to become Hong Kong or Singapore, the countries that have managed to keep their COVID-19 cases low despite strong links to China, MD Alpay Azap stated, ‘‘We should make all our efforts to not being Italy, where the virus has spread so fast due to the insufficient measures to prevent it.’’
‘‘Considering that we are able to run COVID-19 tests for a very few patients and only 20% of them come to hospitals for diagnosis, it is possible that we reached the critical level of spreading fast of the virus many days ago,’’ he also warned.
‘TURKISH GOV’T FAILED TO TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS IN TIME’
A public health specialist and soL columnist İlker Belek evaluated the statements made by MD Alpay Azap to soL news.
Saying that the Turkish government has failed to take necessary precautions to prevent the spreading of the COVID-19 in time, İlker Belek told, ‘‘Places of worship, cafes, shopping malls are still open. On the other hand, the Turkish authorities have missed most of the cases by acting very limited to take samples from patients with suspected cases.’’
‘‘Diagnosis in such outbreaks is the most critical point because you can stop the spread of the epidemic only by putting the infected patients and their relatives in quarantine,’’ Belek also underlined.
‘GOVERNMENT’S DEFINITION OF SUSPECTED CASE WAS VERY LIMITED’
Indicating that the health authorities should run coronavirus tests for the suspected cases to establish a final diagnosis, İlker Belek noted, ‘‘Turkish government’s definition of ‘suspected case’ was very limited. Physicians in Turkey cannot ask for a test to diagnose if you have not traveled to a country with COVID-19 in the past 14 days, or have not been in close contact with a patient diagnosed in the past 14 days, or even if you have been suspected to have the virus but not showing the symptoms of the disease.’’
Belek warned that this situation followed by the authorities must be immediately changed, and added: ‘‘One of the reasons behind China’s success in combating the COVID-19 pandemic is that the Chinese government has implemented the necessary changes to diagnose all cases in a short time.’’
Telling that the severity of this pandemic requires the process of active surveillance, Belek said that healthcare staff should visit houses and workplaces to detect the infected cases as the Chinese authorities did.
TURKISH PRESIDENT CALLS PEOPLE TO PRAY TO OVERCOME COVID-19
Although the scientists warn that the pandemic has reached its critical point of spreading fast in Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called people to pray to tackle the virus on Wed. in his briefing ahead of the ‘‘Coordination Meeting on Struggle Against Coronavirus’’ held at Çankaya Palace in capital Ankara.
‘‘We will overcome this disease with patience and prayers,’’ said Erdogan, claiming that ‘‘A person who performs five-time ablution in a day takes its self-precautions both religiously and medically.’’
Telling that the COVID-19 pandemic will have serious economic consequences for both Turkey and the whole world, President Erdogan noted, ‘‘It is not easy to keep the wheels of the economy turning while fighting the virus. For this, it is certain that our private sector also has some responsibilities to fulfill. We will overcome this situation altogether.’’
After the Coordination Meeting on Struggle Against Coronavirus on March 18, the Turkish government has announced an economic recovery program under the name of ‘‘Economic Stability Shield’’, protecting the interests of the capitalist class in the country, including a series of measures such as tax cuts for businesses and the private sector.
As the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have still not decided to implement crucial precautions to combat the pandemic, it seems Turkish government concerns the necessary measures that must be taken to prevent the rapid spreading of COVID-19 would also stop vital activities in economic life, leading completely paralyzing the capitalist system and worsening the economic situation in the country.
As of March 18, Turkey has 98 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1 death, according to the statement made by the Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.
