Coronavirus: Turkish authorities reluctant to order containment

Text by: Anne Andlauer

In Turkey, the spread of the new coronavirus has accelerated in recent days. But the attitude of the authorities causes some confusion. The latter multiply the restrictions while being reluctant to decree a national confinement, however demanded by the main opposition parties and part of the population.

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From our correspondent in Istanbul,

Until the screening of the first Covid-19 patient in Turkish territory on March 11, the authorities seemed to believe - or want to make believe - that the pandemic could spare this geographic crossroads of 83 million inhabitants. On March 8, on Twitter , the Minister of Health, Fahrettin Koca, welcomed the fact that Turkey has " managed so far not to join the list " of the 104 countries then affected by the new coronavirus. Less than 20 days after the first case, Monday, the official toll was already heavy: 168 dead and 10,827 patients screened.

The Turkish government has taken precautionary measures early on and continues to tighten restrictions every day. The borders of the country and most places welcoming the public are closed, international flights suspended, travel from one city to another strictly limited (subject to prefectural authorization for travel by coach or plane, to a test temperature for car journeys). People over the age of 65 and people with chronic conditions are ordered to stay at home.

The “voluntary quarantine” strategy

But the confinement stops there. The authorities call on younger, unhealthy Turks not to leave their homes, but they impose nothing - neither on citizens nor on businesses. Ankara has chosen the strategy of "voluntary quarantine", as repeated on Monday evening by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying that Turkey, " in comparison with Europe and the United States, [was] one of the countries closest to preventing the spread of the disease . "

If the streets of Turkey are indeed sparse, hundreds of thousands of Turks continue to go to work. " Some customers pretend that nothing has changed and refuse to interrupt the construction, " says Miray, an architect from Istanbul. " Which means that we always have site meetings, that the workers always work side by side in tight spaces ... The site managers wear masks and gloves, but the workers, nothing ... The other day, the one of them said to me, “We have to work to live. But if only they managed so that we could sleep on the construction site ... At least we wouldn't have the fear of infecting our families. '' I agreed. "

Voices rise for total containment

More and more voices in Turkey are calling for strict confinement. The main opposition party, the Social Democratic CHP, is even demanding a national curfew, as is Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, a megalopolis of 16 million inhabitants. “ Istanbul is one of the most populous cities in the world and the epidemic is spreading there very quickly. We must immediately declare a curfew. If we are not brave today, it may be too late tomorrow, "said the mayor on Monday, cutting with the reassuring speech of the government.

This is also what architect Miray is waiting for, at the same time as the announcement of partial unemployment measures for salaried and temporary workers. “ In a few days, I will only be doing telework. I have the means to say “no” to customers who ask me to come to the sites. But not everyone has these means , "observes the young woman, who says" do not understand why a total containment is still not imposed. Some say it is for economic reasons. But all the same! "

Since the start of the crisis, the few speeches made by Recep Tayyip Erdogan (who usually gives at least one speech a day) have focused on measures to support the Turkish economy, in particular a plan for aid of 14 billion euros unveiled on March 18. According to many observers , the consequences of strict containment for the economy, weakened in recent years, would explain the reluctance of the government to take drastic measures, despite scientific recommendations and even, it seems, those of the Minister of health.

" The message is not clear "

From his apartment in Amasya, a province in the Black Sea region, Ilmiye believes that the strategy of power maintains confusion. This pensioner lives with her 89-year-old mother and is not allowed to go out, under penalty of a fine. She would like the same for all of her fellow citizens. " The authorities are only advising them not to leave their homes, but it cannot work that way: either you confine everyone or no one. Otherwise, the message is not clear, ”said the 66-year-old former teacher. " I live on a busy avenue and I can tell you that the avenue remains very lively ... "

Ilmiye is increasingly worried: last week, her stepdaughter's aunt died from Covid-19. She also lived in Amasya, but Ilmiye has no way of knowing how badly her area is affected, as the authorities do not provide details on the cities where the sick and dead are reported.

Another piece of information has gone relatively unnoticed in the Turkish media in recent days: for fear of turning a humanitarian crisis into a health crisis, the authorities have evacuated most of the migrants massed on the Greek-Turkish border since President Erdogan had announced, at the end of February, "the opening of the doors" of the European Union. Thousands of people eventually left the area on state-chartered buses to be transported to detention centers, where they were quarantined.

Our selection on SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus

• Listen to Infos coronavirus , our daily column on the Covid-19

• Practical questions:
→ What is the lifespan of the virus?
→ Who are the vulnerable people ?
→ What should you do when you think you are contaminated ?
→ Quarantine, what are we talking about ?
→ What treatments ? The effectiveness of an antimalarial drug in question
→ The advice of a psychiatrist to live well the confinement

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