Covid-19 in Turkey: Number of intubated patients on the rise, disease much more fatal for men

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The number of Covid-19 patients on ventilators increased by 31 percent in a week, according to the Health Ministry's weekly situation report covering between August 17 and August 23. 

Among more than 259,000 confirmed cases since the begining or the epidemic in March, a total of 10,691, or 4.12 percent of the patients were put on ventilators, the data shows.

The number of new intubated patients in the last week was 517, with a 31.2 percent increase from the previous week. The report does not include figures on patients in intensive care. 

Following a sharp increase in the number of patients on ventilators and in critical care, the Health Ministry stopped anouncing daily figures on these as of July 29.

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Compared to the previous week, the number of new hospitalizations decreased, the number of tests increased, the report also noted.
The death rate of all confirmed cases was 2,36 percent.

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Sex distribution

The report also shows that the disease is significantly more fatal for men than women as 62 percent (3,803) of the 6.121 died coronavirus patients were men while 2,803 women died because of the disease.

Infection numbers, however, were much closer as 51 percent of all reported cases were men. 

Of all deaths, 4.341 (71 percent) were people aged 65 years or older, but only 11 percent of all cases were in this age
group. So far, 12 deaths among Covid-19 cases under 15 years of age have been confirmed by the ministry.

Geographical distribution

The seven-day incidence with more than new 15 cases per 100.000 population was observed in Central Anatolia, Northeastern Anatolia, Western Anatolia, Southeastern Anatolia, and Mideastern Anatolia regions. Erzurum, Malatya, and Urfa had the highest incidence rate among metropolises in the seven-day period (36,1, 29,7 and 26,7, respectively). On the other hand, Hatay, Muğla, and Aydın had the lowest incidence rate among metropolises in seve days (1,8, 1,7 and 1,7, respectively).

The number of daily cases, tests, deaths and recoveries confirmed by the Health Ministry since the start of the outbreak:

(VK)