The number of countries where doctors assure that the real number of patients with COVID-19 significantly exceeds official statistics, and against this background, they call for the introduction of general restrictions, completed by Turkey. The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) said that after the Eid al-Adha celebration, the actual cases of Covid-19 in Turkey are double the number announced by the Ministry of Health. Moreover, the main number of patients falls in Istanbul, as well as in resorts, where many locals went for the holidays, doctors add.
They claim that about 235,000 cases of coronavirus are registered in Turkey in a week – this is twice as many as the official figures. A quarter of the coronavirus cases in Turkey are in Istanbul, they say, citing the testimony of 400 family doctors. They also emphasize that the residents of the metropolis spread the infection both to their hometowns throughout Turkey and to resorts – this happened during the celebration of Kurban Bayram last weekend.
However, not all COVID-19 patients in Turkey report to their family doctors or hospitals, TTB said, and the actual infection rates in the country are much higher than reported. “The lack of precautions taken during the holiday weekend indicates that infections will continue to rise rapidly,” Turkish doctors said.
What they are calling on the Ministry of Health to do is also quite predictable – to introduce a series of protective measures against a surge of infections, including masks, social distancing, testing for COVID-19, mandatory vaccinations, and quarantine not only for those who have tested positive for the coronavirus, but also for those who were in contact with them. And so on – until the return of lockdowns.