The 'Second Wave': Next Week is Risky, Says Professor

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After the reopening in Turkey, the number of Covid-19 cases this week will be very important in terms of the "second wave" of the outbreak, according to a professor of internal diseases and gastroenterology.

"There is always the possibility of the second wave of the disease. Cases dropping to 800s and then climbing to 3,000s in Iran is an example of this," Prof. Mehmet Said Buğdacı told the state-run Anadolu Agency.

"After the normalization this week, coastlines and streets were full in İstanbul, the city with the most cases," he said, adding that people didn't follow the rules about wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.

He recommended wearing face visors in public transport: "Wearing a mask is a vital measure against coronavirus. The fact that the disease rate is lower among communities wearing masks shows this. It will be more effective to wear masks and protective visors if possible in public transport."

"An article compiling data from 16 countries and 172 scientific articles published a few days ago showed that at least one meter of social distance was protective. While this article showed that [the disease] is mostly transmitted by air, it was stated that hand washing provides additional benefits.

"No method alone is protective. When cleaning, mask and distance are together, the risk goes down to the lowest point possible even if it is not zero. Simply, when the cleaning-mask-distance rule is followed, it is okay.

"Unfortunately, masks aren't used correctly. The mask has to close the moth and the nose.

"But most of the time, the nose stays open, the mask goes under the chin. There are many examples. We have even seen people sleeping with masks on social media." (RT/VK)