Turkey's Covid-19 Cases Top 65 Thousand, Minister Expects 'Plateau' Within Two Weeks
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Turkey's death toll from the new coronavirus pandemic has increased to 1,403 as 107 people have died since yesterday's update, the Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced today (April 14) at a press conference in Ankara, the capital.
The number of total cases has reached 65,111 with 4,062 new cases, according to the figures. In the last 24 hours, 33,070 people were tested for Covid-19 while the total number of tests stood at 443,626. The number of patients in intensive care is 1,809 with 1,087 intubated patients and 4,799 people have recovered from the disease.
"We have managed to bring the spread rate under control," Koca remarked. However, he said, they expected the epidemic to reach the plateau within one or two weeks and urged people to continue self-quarantine. If there was not a new surge within this time, then the outbreak might begin to decline, he added.
Turkey's treatment approach
The minister went on to say that Turkey has a "unique approach" to the treament of Covid-19, which he said has yielded positive results. They stocked large amounts of favipiravir, an antiviral drug imported from China, and chloroquine, a medication for malaria treatment that is also used for Covid-19, he said.
The country's use of these drug were also different, he further said. Contrary to China's advice, they saw that faviripiravir was more effective on patients who were not in intensive care, he added.
Treatment of patients with plasma therapy was growing in Turkey and the number of recovered people with cure was rising, he further said.
Tracing contacts
Mentioning the tracing method of screening the chain of contact in infectious disease, he said Turkey uses the method to reach people infected by the coronavirus, monitor them, and isolate the diagnosed for treatment.
Family physicians played an important role in filiation process, he said. The follow-up information about people suspected to be infected with the virus are shared with the family physicians and they observe whether the patients develop symptoms or not, he added.
Turkey has 4,600 filiation teams that are following up 251,028 people.
"As of today, 261,989 people have been identified in the contact chain and approximately 96 percent of them have been tracked," he said, as part of the country's efforts to curb the virus.
Curfew panic on Friday
When asked about his thoughts on the panic caused by the Interior Ministry's short-notice announcement of a weekend curfew, which lead many people to rush out to buy food and drink, Koca said that he doesn't have anything to add what Minister Süleyman Soylu said. Several experts warned that Friday's (April 10) incidents might cause the disease to further spread.
Soylu announced on Sunday that he would resign as the minister but remained in his post after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rejected his resignation.
A lockdown will take place on this weekend as well, Erdoğan stated yesterday. While the government has banned those people older than 65 and younger than 20 from going out and has been advising people to practive self-quarantine, it has avoided a full lockdown despite calls from opposition and doctors.
CLICK - All Updates on Turkey's Coronavirus Tally
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Daily new cases, deaths and tests 11 March: 1 case 1 April: 2148 cases 63 deaths 14.396 tests |
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About the novel coronavirus What is a coronavirus? Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which may cause illness in animals or humans. In humans, several coronaviruses are known to cause respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The most recently discovered coronavirus causes coronavirus disease Covid-19. The virus was named SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. What is Covid-19? Covid-19 is the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus. This new virus and disease were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. What are the symptoms? Covid-19 symptoms include cough, fever, shortness of breath, muscle aches, sore throat, unexplained loss of taste or smell. How does Covid-19 spread? People can catch Covid-19 from others who have the virus. The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with Covid-19 coughs or exhales. These droplets land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch Covid-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth. Studies to date suggest that the virus is mainly transmitted through contact with respiratory droplets rather than through the air. How did the outbreak begin? Although health officials are still tracing the exact source of this new coronavirus, early hypotheses thought it may be linked to a seafood market in Wuhan. Some people who visited the market developed viral pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus. A study that came out on January 25, 2020, notes that the individual with the first reported case became ill on December 1, 2019, and had no link to the seafood market. Investigations are ongoing as to how this virus originated and spread. Sources: World Health Organization, Johns Hopkins University |
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