19 Covid-19 Questions to Ministry of Health

* Bolu İzzet Baysal Public Hospital personnel produce masks at the the hospital / Photo: Zafer Göder / Anadolu Agency (AA)

Click to read the article in Turkish

The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) Central Council has requested the Ministry of Health openly and transparently share information about the current state of new coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in Turkey.

In a letter addressed to Minister of Health Dr. Fahrettin Koca and signed TTB Central Council Chair Prof. Dr. Sinan Adıyaman, a series of questions awaiting answers have been listed.

Noting that the outbreak is so dangerous that it can be only coped with an all-out struggle by central and local administrations, professional and non-governmental organizations and the entire society, the letter has underlined that "the lack of sufficient information as to the prevalence of the pandemic in our country, its regional distribution and the number of patients and deaths give way to false and misleading news of the media which cause panic."

Accordingly, the TTB Central Council has addressed the following questions to the Ministry of Health to be answered urgently:

• What is the distribution of confirmed cases by their provinces and districts of residence, age and gender?
• What is the distribution of confirmed cases by their stories of contact with abroad?
• As of today, in how many provinces and centers are tests being conducted?
• Until today, how many diagnosis/scan tests in total have been conducted (by days)? As of today, how many tests do you plan to carry out across the country in a day?
• How many cases have tested positive for each diagnosis/scan test type by days? What is the rate of those who first tested negative and whose tests turned out to be positive when tested for the second time?
• How many types of diagnosis/scan tests are used? How are the validity qualities of the tests used (the qualities of sensitivity, selectivity, positive and negative predictive values)?
• What is the time span between the application of the patients and the resulting of the tests?
• What is the distribution of symptoms in confirmed cases (fever, cough, difficulty breathing, diarrhea, etc.)?
• What are the chest radiography and computed tomography findings of the confirmed cases?
• How many confirmed cases have undergone a chest radiography and computed tomography? In how many unconfirmed cases are classic or possible imaging findings for Covid-19 detected?
• What is the time span between the positive imaging findings (with chest radiography and/or computed tomography) and the confirmation of the case?
• As of today, in how many hospitals are confirmed or possible/ suspected COVID-19 patients hospitalized and what is their distribution by provinces? What is their institutional/sectoral distribution (Ministry of Health, public university, foundation university, private sector)?
• Which medicine have been used in treating the confirmed cases till today? At what percentage have patients responded to treatment with these drugs?
• What is the amount of the drugs that could be used in treatment across the country and what is their distribution by provinces?
• How many patients are foreseen by your Ministry and are there enough medicine available in stocks to be used when necessary? Can the distribution of these medicine to hospitals be properly organized? In which hospital can an adequate amount of medicine be provided, how many of them is having a shortage of medicine?
• Considering that the logarithmic increase in the number of patients is sharper than other countries in Turkey: What is the number of beds and ventilators in intensive care units across the country? Can they meet the foreseen need? What measures are planned to be taken in the event of any shortage?
• How many health workers have tested positive so far? What are their distribution by profession (physician, nurse, medical technician), institution (primary health centers, secondary hospital, tertiary hospital) and by province?
• How many health workers have been tested so far? What is the time span foreseen for the testing of all health personnel who are in contact with patients and have a high risk of getting infected?
• Can our personal protective equipment stock and our capacity of production meet the need? Can the distribution of these materials be conducted in an organized manner? Are they also distributed to the hospitals other than the ones affiliated with your Ministry, such as university hospitals? (AS/SD)