The rise of coronavirus cases in Turkey and people worry
After appeals for action by doctors and opposition politicians that Turkey that has the highest level of daily new COVID-19 cases in Europe and the Middle East put again procedures last week to cover the rapid propagation.
Indeed, the red letters across the front of Fikret Oluk’s bus declares: Stay Home Turkey. However; the Istanbul driver noted that passengers ignore rules, sometimes without masks, even as coronavirus infections rocket. A limit of 69 passengers on Oluk’s busy urban bus route is among the rules. But, when 89 are aboard, the driver states that he draws the line.
The driver of 10 years said: But unfortunately people do not listen. They attack us and put us in a difficult position. Adding: How can we not be tense? Our lives are currently dependent on these masks. But unfortunately, just like people don’t think about themselves, they don’t think about us either.
Besides, interviews with Turks who have took a vaccine and those waiting for one present a combination of fear and frustration with record COVID-19 deaths and infections that reached 56,000 just on Thursday.
A social murder
On her part, the head of the Turkish Medics Association informed Reuters that she thought that the biggest mistake of President Tayyip Erdogan’s government was largely easing restrictions in March while daily case numbers decreased to 10,000 noting that this sacrificed the achievements made during the winter, describing the approach as social murder.
Sebnem Korucu Fincanci said: We called this a ‘social murder’ because they already know what will cause these deaths, they do not have any preventative measures, indicating that travel, manufacturing and public transportation must be stopped.
In fact, Erdogan and his government accused last month since in a party congress with thousands of people, many people were seen violating social distancing rules and not wearing or improperly wearing masks. Thus, opposition sides and critics accused Ankara of undermining efforts to stop infections.
Be realistic
The head doctor at a specially-built pandemic hospital in Istanbul, Nurettin Yigit, explained that the impact on the health system of the latest mutation had been less than in previous situations and described the timing as unlucky.
He informed Reuters as medical staff administered vaccines to patients: The moment we began this controlled normalization, the entry of other mutations from other countries started. He also qualified the increase partly to people travelling domestically.
However, Ankara claimed that coronavirus variants were because of the rise in infections, noting that almost 85 percent of total cases across the country are from the variant first identified in Britain, and also a lack of commitment to procedures like social distancing and mask wearing.
On his part, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca informed the Hurriyet daily, on Friday, that the solution to the serious increase in infections was to speed up vaccinations, adding that he seeks to have all citizens over 20 years old vaccinated by July.
Fincanci also described Ankara’s vaccination aims as unrealistic and criticized what she appealed the inaccurate reporting of case and death numbers, adding: They have to be realistic, they have to be transparent.
According to a Reuters tally, Turkey has administered about 18 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines until now, which is enough to cover about 11 percent of the population.
Furthermore, the government rejected criticisms about its treatment of the pandemic and the procedures that it has executed; saying public health is the priority. It has adopted fresh stay-at-home orders for weekends and would stop eating at restaurants starting from Tuesday for the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.
Nonetheless, the country still generally open for business since last June and many walked in the streets and go to the cafes as the weather has warmed which worrying some who have stayed at home.
Mehmet Tut, 62, sitting outside a hospital treatment room after receiving his first vaccine shot on Friday said: I haven’t drank tea in a cafe for 11 months. I don’t leave the house. He also said: We will still be careful as we wait for the second dose even as others are not taking enough precautions. He also added: They expect everything from the state but it is up to us. If we are careful we won’t get sick.
