Dozens Attempt to Escape Coronavirus Quarantine, Clash with Police

People who returned from the pilgrimage are being placed in quarantine in dormitories. (Photo: AA)

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Turkey has been placing thousands of people returning from the Umrah pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia under quarantine in student dormitories. However, dozens of people yesterday (March 16) attempted to escape quarantine in the central Konya province, engaging in a brawl with the police.

More than 10 thousand people have returned from the pilgrimage in the past month and they have been put in quarantine in dormitories in the provinces of Konya, Kayseri, Isparta and Ankara, the capital.

Videos of the brawl between the quaranined people and the police were posted on social media.

However, some of the quarantined people claimed on social media that the conditions in dormitories were not hygienic as they attempted to escape.

In another case, 28 people who evaded quarantine were rounded up by the police on the way to their hometown, the eastern Erzurum province. They rented a private bus and were caught in the central Çorum province, Erzurum Governor Okay Memiş informed.

Turkey has so far confirmed 47 cases of Covid-19 with all the infected people having come from abroad or contacted people who came from abroad.

People being taken from the airport to quarantine. (Photo: AA)

Justice Minister: This is a crime

After the incidents, Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül urged people to abide by quarantine orders and reminded them that violating such orders would be an offense.

"For the good of our loved ones and our country, the precautions advised by official authorities should be strictly complied with. Behaviors threatening public health such as not complying with quarantine orders are crime according to our Penal Code," the minister said in a tweet.

Turkey has stepped up quarantine measures amid the new coronavirus outbreak as Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced today that three thousand people who will come from European countries will be placed in quarantine in student dormitories in İstanbul and Kocaeli. (AS/VK)