Turkish Medical Association: Number of Covid-19 Cases Higher Than What Ministry Says

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The number of people who tested positive for coronavirus in Turkey is more than what the Health Ministry announced, according to Prof. Sinan Adıyaman, the central committee chair of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB). 

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced today (March 16) that 18 people have so far been found to be infected.

"The Health Ministry says 18 but the Turkish Medical Association has branches everywhere, there are medical chambers, their executives, our physician colleagues... They can reach us 24 hours a day. According to what we have heard of, the number of patients is more than that," Adıyaman said.

The TTB also stated that Turkey has to conduct more coronavirus tests to accurately determine the number of infected people in the country.

In a written statement, the it said that three conditions must be met to successfully tackle the outbreak: Identifying and isolating infected people and people who contacted them and determining how widespread is the disease in the country by performing enough number of tests and organizing the healthcare system to respond to the rapidly increasing number of patients.

These conditions have not been sufficiently met, the statement said as the number of performed tests are much below the number that should have been reached.

"We know that approximately 7,000 thousand patients have been tested to this day. However, the experiences of the countries that are successful in tackling the disease show that we should be at a much higher number than this," the TTB stated, adding that Turkey must be able to produce more than two thousand test kits a week.

The TTB also urged the ministry to announce the results of tests daily and increase the number of test centers. "[The number of] test centers must be rapidly increased and university laboratories the infrastructures of which are sufficient must also be included in the process."

"Apart from the PCR test, which is currently in use, antigen tests, one of the quick diagnosis tests, should be considered to put into use."

The TTB also outlined several measures such as personal hygiene, social distancing, self-quarantine, protecting physicians, appointing "corona coordinators" to hospitals, and closing shops and workplaces.

Union: There is a shortage of equipment

The Health and Social Service Laborers' Union (SES) also released a statement today, pointing out to equipment shortage in hospitals.

"The Health Ministry should declare a state of emergency at hospitals. There is no emergency action plan at our hospitals. Exercises have not been conducted with extraordinary action plans.

"Health workers have not been theoretically and practically trained about how to serve in a period of epidemic."

The union said there has been a shortage of protective equipment: "In almost all of the health institutions, there are health laborers who cannot obtain even surgical masks and gloves.

"There are also problems with obtaining hand disinfectants. In-house warnings are frequently made about the using hand disinfectants 'sparingly'," the union further said.

"There is no precaution taken in common use areas in hospitals. Daily routine life continues in toilets, dining halls, offices as if there is nothing. Viruses can easily be transmitted in common areas. Hygiene and disinfection of common areas should be carried out in the most precise manner.

"The number of hospitals where tests are performed should be increased.

"Existing healthcare services are carried out with an insufficient number of healthcare professionals and the workload is high." (AS/DB/VK)