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Ankara, Turkey's capital, is having a bed shortage in hospitals due to the recent surge of the coronavirus epidemic in the city, the Ankara Medical Chamber said in a statement today (September 10).

Due to the bed shortage, antiviral drugs used in Covid-19 treatment such as hydroxychloroquine and favipiravir are now distributed to homes by contact tracing teams, according to the chamber.

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Also, people who had contact with patients are prescribed these two drugs even if they have a negative test, says the statement.

Both drugs are antivirals that have been experimentally used since the start of the pandemic.

"This is not a contact tracing practice but an inappropriate treatment practice that is applied to people who were not diagnosed and poses a great risk to public health," said the chamber.

"According to up-to-date data, hydroxychloroquine treatment is not recommended for patients who are hospitalized due to Covid-19. The data collected so far suggests no clinical benefit. Moreover, its use with other drugs is not recommended due to an increasing side-effect profile," it added.

On favipiravir, the chamber said the data on its effect and safety was "limited" and noted that distributing these drugs to homes was not right.

While all hospitals in the city except two have been declared as "pandemic hospitals," there are still queues at outpatient clinics and "all services are full," said the chamber.

"People now go back without being able to have a test, giving up having an examination. Severely ill patients try to receive treatment in emergency services and services with inadequate conditions. When the situation is like this, the Ministry of Health insists on not disclosing the data transparently," it further said. (RT/VK)