After overtaking it for a while ... what does Corona hold for Turkey?

Zaher Albik-Ankara

After Turkey's absence from the countries where the Coruna virus was prevalent, the virus seemed to be circulating very quickly for a week in the country, given daily rates of increase in infections and deaths.

During the last 48 hours, 14,935 checks were performed and 3773 new cases were recorded, at a very high rate of more than 25%. This brings the total number of injured people to 7,402, while the death toll has reached 108 at the moment.

The ratio of infection to tests

March 19 8.48%

March 20 8.5%

March 20 9.3%

March 23 7.97%

March 24 8.67%

March 25 11.4%

March 26 16.41%

March 27 27.46%

March 28 22.37%

What are the reasons for this rapid increase? What about the Turkish health situation?

The high percentage of injured people prompted Ankara to take stricter measures, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced in a press conference restricting trips and movement between Turkish cities, stopping foreign trips, giving city governors the authority to take decisions and required actions, and reducing the number of workers in the private sector to a minimum As possible, close the parks and coast.

Preventative measurements
In this context, the former adviser to the Turkish Minister of Health and Internal Medicine Consultant Abdellatif Vasli said, "From the beginning, Turkey knew that the spread of the virus and the high number of infections and deaths are inevitable, as it is not in isolation from the major countries hit by the epidemic."

"The percentage of injuries and the number of deaths in Turkey were lower than most countries due to the measures taken by the country since the first outbreak of the epidemic in China to reduce flights, install a thermal camera in airports and implement a quarantine policy for arrivals from abroad, in addition to the people's commitment to the instructions," Vasli told Al Jazeera Net. And instructions issued by official institutions. "

The former adviser to the Turkish Minister of Health linked the rapid increase in the rate of HIV infections recently to "the large increase in the number of medical examinations for suspects, as well as the increased awareness of the nature of symptoms of the disease that causes people who feel symptoms to request a test."

He pointed out that Turkey imported a million rapid screening devices that give the result after only 15 minutes and is now used by all health institutions in the country to examine the largest possible number to limit the spread of the epidemic.

Vasli pointed out that doubling the number of infected people daily does not mean the weakness of the measures taken by the state to limit the spread of the disease, considering this indication that Turkey is trying to reach a greater number of people suspected of contracting the virus and conducting the necessary tests for them to restrict and treat them and protect others from infection.

As for the health situation in Turkey, the former advisor to the Minister of Health confirmed that years before the spread of this epidemic, Turkey had made great progress in the health field, starting from the generalized health system in all health centers in all provinces, cities and villages and ending with the establishment of health cities and the last health city in Ankara that contains Four thousand beds.

Vasli added, "The medical frameworks are ready in quantity and quality, especially since the number of intensive care rooms and beds in Turkey is the largest in Europe, and while European countries and America are preparing public places to receive the epidemic, Turkey still has its absorptive capacity in government hospitals open to the injured and has There is room for a large number of possible cases, knowing that private hospitals that did not start receiving patients with the disease are awaiting instructions from officials. "

Undetected injuries
For his part, the brain doctor, neurosurgeon and epidemiologist at the Koro Hospital in Ankara, Basil Tarazi told Al-Jazeera Net that “the spread of Corona virus in Turkey entered this week in the ascending phase and then it will move to the decline stage, but the smaller the number of people exposed to infection, the degree of ascending is less numerical and shorter in time.” ".

And the doctor favored Tarzi, the possibility of a greater percentage of the injured who were not tested after looking at the current number of injured people who are going up, in light of the examination being conducted for those suspected of being infected only and not for the general citizens.

He pointed out that the death rate of the injured is still at the natural limit globally, that is, it does not exceed 2%, taking into account that the largest number of the dead are elderly people with chronic diseases.

The neuroscientist and epidemiologist described the number of daily examinations with few, despite the government making double efforts to contain the crisis by transferring large hospitals to centers for people living with HIV and using the largest number of medical staff.

He stressed that the health situation in Turkey is currently under control, especially since the state has not used all its available capabilities yet, and has not reached the state of emergency, but in the future it will need to raise the degree of emergency and public alert in the health sector.

Doctor Tarazi recommends citizens and residents in Turkey to adhere to the home stone, and to review health centers in the event of symptoms similar to infection with the virus.