Coronavirus: Turkey announces 48-hour containment, rush in stores

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As the 1,000 coronavirus deadline has been crossed in Turkey, authorities on Friday ordered residents of 31 major cities to stay cloistered at home for the weekend starting at midnight. The announcement took millions of Turks by surprise, rushing to the stores.

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Residents of Istanbul, the capital Ankara and 29 other major Turkish cities learned this Friday evening around 22 hours that they would not be allowed to leave their homes from midnight, all week end. This containment order will remain in force until midnight Sunday, said the Minister of the Interior in his press release.

Immediate consequence of this last minute announcement: long queues were formed in front of the shops still open in the evenings, transforming in places into real crowds, in defiance of all the rules of social distancing. In a panic, many Turks rushed to grocery stores and bakeries to stock up on water, yogurt or bread, even giving rise to a few fights, reports our correspondent in Istanbul, Anne Andlauer .

If the choice of this late announcement remains inexplicable - the mayor of Istanbul himself says he was not informed - that of confinement limited to the weekend is however perfectly consistent with the strategy of the Turkish authorities, which since the beginning of the health crisis has consisted in preserving the economy as much as possible. Until now, only those under 20 and over 65 - that is, the least active Turks - were forced to stay at home. After this weekend's general confinement in major cities, millions of Turks between the ages of 20 and 65 will be able to return to work on Monday morning.

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Turkey has become one of the countries with the fastest spreading coronavirus pandemic. During the last 24 hours, 4,747 new cases have been identified, as well as 98 additional deaths. The country totals 47,029 cases of contamination, most in Istanbul, and 1,006 dead. More than 300,000 tests have already been conducted in this country of 83 million inhabitants, according to the latest official statistics.

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