* Photo: Murat Kula - Ankara/AA
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Chaired by President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan via video conference, the cabinet convened at Huber Villa in İstanbul at around 4 p.m. yesterday (March 30).
President Erdoğan has addressed the public following the meeting and announced that they have launched a "National Solidarity Campaign" to support the ones in need amid COVID-19 pandemic.
"I am launching the campaign personally by donating my seven-month salary," Erdoğan has said and called on the others to follow suit.
Members of the cabinet in the government and lawmakers have donated 5.2 million Turkish Lira (approx. 791 thousand US dollars) to the campaign, Erdoğan has added and underlined that "the aim of the campaign is to provide additional support to low-income people suffering economically due to the measures taken against the spread of the disease."
'Turkey conducts over 10,000 tests in a day'
As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), stressing Turkey's "determination to use all means to curb the spread of the virus," Erdoğan has said that the country is now able conduct more than 10,000 tests a day."
Some 41 neighborhoods and villages are under quarantine in the country, Erdoğan has said, calling on the public to self-quarantine in their homes.
He has also pointed out that Turkey does not face any problems concerning its food supply, and that it had a surplus in agricultural production.
Other highlights from Erdoğan's speech are as follows:
'Our healthcare infrastructure in much better condition'
"We, since the very beginning of the pandemic, have fully implemented the health measures in line with the advice of the Science Council established within the Ministry of Health.
"Our healthcare infrastructure, in terms of both personnel and drugs as well as equipment and the number of intensive care beds, is in a much better condition in comparison with that of other countries.
"We meet by ourselves almost all our needs, from masks to diagnosis kits and to some drugs that boost the immune system.
"We have thus far distributed 27 million surgical masks, over 3 million N95 masks, more than 1 million protective suits and over 181 thousand safety glasses to our hospitals and other healthcare units. We have the means to further increase the production of these materials.
Call to the public to stay indoors
"Turkey, in comparison to Europe and the U.S., is one of the countries that are closest to overcoming the spread of this disease. We observe that our citizens adopt measures in a more conscious manner each passing day.
"One of the most important issues during the pandemic process is to keep our healthcare system running. The more we allocate the personnel and equipment of our healthcare institutions for the fight against the COVID-19, the more effective we deal with the pandemic.
"In addition, healthcare institutions can become centers of the pandemic during such periods. Therefore, I especially ask our citizens to not go to hospitals unless there is a real emergency.
Aid to other countries
"We endeavor to meet the needs of our friends as well as ours. In this regard, we have sent healthcare and cleaning products to many countries during these difficult times they are faced with.
"Lastly, we will ship on Wednesday a planeload of material to Spain, which is one of the countries affected most negatively by the pandemic.
"Likewise, we have also delivered a shipload of aid materials to Italy, which has also been going through hard times, and will continue to do so. There are also other countries to which we send materials that we produce on our own." (EKN/SD)
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