‘How many workers died of coronavirus in Turkey?’

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Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) İstanbul MP Oya Ersoy has raised concerns that workers contract novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and lose their lives as necessary measures are not taken in their workplaces.

Addressing a Parliamentary question to Minister of Family, Labor and Social Services Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk, Oya Ersoy has underlined that even though the outbreak has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), workers in Turkey have to continue working in crowded workplaces, doing works that are not absolutely necessary.

The MP has noted that even when the quarantine was still in effect in Turkey, adequate measures were not taken in workplaces and, with the start of the normalization process on June 1, the mechanisms of prevention and inspection have been almost completely put aside.

Accordingly, the failure to take the necessary measures leads several workers to get infected while working and to lose their lives, the MP has indicated further, adding that the Ministry of Labor does not share data about the workers who died of novel coronavirus in Turkey.

'Workers threatened to not say they are infected'

Referring to an incident recently shared with the public by the Construction Workers Union (İnşaat-İş), Oya Ersoy has raised concerns about the allegations that the infected workers of Vestel factory are threatened by their managers in an attempt to prevent them from informing the ones whom they were in contact that they have contracted the virus.

She has also underlined that since the first days of the pandemic in early March 2020, several workers have caught the virus and lost their lives and the mechanisms of prevention and inspection are not implemented, which is very concerning for the health of workers.

'How many workers lost their lives?'

HDP MP Oya Ersoy has asked the following questions to Minister of Family, Labor and Social Services Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk:

• How many workers lost their lives between March 2020 and August 2020 when they were actively insured?
• Of these deceased workers, how many of them lost their lives due to coronavirus from March to August 2020?
• In which sectors were the workers who died of coronavirus working?
• How many workers lost their lives from March to August 2018?
• How many workers lost their lives from March to August 2019?
• Do you have data on the number of workers who lost their lives from March to August 2020 while working informally? If yes, how many workers lost their lives?

(TP/SD)