While the number of COVID-19 cases seems to be increasing in Turkey, four out of five patients presenting to hospitals and health centres with flu symptoms test positive for coronavirus, say experts, who warn that the general public seems to have lost its fear of the virus even though it can pose a serious risk to the elderly or chronically ill people.
‘Although people act as if the coronavirus no longer exists, COVID-19 is still there. Since 15 August we have seen a significant increase in cases,’ Dr Müslüm Süngü, a specialist in internal medicine, told Turkish media. ‘Four out of five patients who come (to a health centre) with symptoms test positive for COVID. When the patient comes to collect the results and we tell them that they have COVID, even though they know it, they still don’t use a mask,’ he said.
While the most lethal effects of the coronavirus have been reduced over time, Süngü warned that SARS-CoV-2 still poses a significant risk to elder people with low defences or chronic illnesses. ‘(Infected patients) should wear masks in crowded or enclosed places. Patients with symptoms should visit the nearest health centre for testing,’ the expert added.
But Süngü goes one step further, and believes that with the increase of COVID cases in Turkey and the arrival of cold weather, the use of masks should be widespread in meeting places or workplaces where people are close to each other, including offices, factories or schools. ‘In schools, children spend a lot of time together (locked in classrooms). One infected child can cause an outbreak of flu in the whole school. The virus spreads through carriers from schools to families, and from there to workplaces. It’s a cycle that impacts on all segments of society,’ he warned.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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