Doctors in Antalya stage protest after five health workers died of Covid-19 in a week

"The pandemic is continuing, health workers are burning out" (Photo: Antalya Medical Chamber)

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Doctors have staged a protest in the southern province of Antalya, one of the most popular holiday resorts in the country, following the death of five colleagues in a week due to Covid-19.

Turkey has seen a significant increase in coronavirus cases over the past month as doctors' organizations have been criticizing the government for lifting measures.

The Antalya Medical Chamber said in a statement that the government has implemented a "mass immunity" policy under the name of "normalization" for the revival of the economy and the interests of capital owners.

In early June, the government lifted most restrictions, including weekend curfews, intercity travel restrictions and reopening recreational and tourism facilities, in what it called a "normalization process."

Since the 1990s, the governments have been managing healthcare services in a way that prioritizes treatment rather than prevention of diseases, which made it more difficult to manage the outbreak, the statement said.

The doctors listed a series of demands, including the cancellation of salary deductions of infected family physicians, recognition of Covid-19 as an occupational disease, and regular Covid-19 tests for all healthcare workers.

"The lives of the health workers whom we have lost left behind should be secured," it added.

The Covid-19 treatment process should be revised according to the accumulated data in our country and international scientific evidence, the association further stated. (EMK/VK)