‘1,072 health workers diagnosed with COVID-19 in Ankara’

* Photo: Ankara Medical Chamber

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Health organizations made a statement for the press about the conditions of healthcare workers in the capital city of Ankara amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic yesterday (October 26).

While the press statement was held at the central office of the Ankara Medical Chamber, it was attended by Ankara Medical Chamber Executive Board member Dr. Haydar Can Dokuyan, Ankara Dentists' Chamber Chair Dr. Serhat Özsoy and Health and Social Service Laborers' Union (SES) Ankara Branch Co-Chair Kubilay Yalçınkaya.

Read out by Dr. Haydar Can Dokuyan, the joint statement of the organizations has underlined that 40 health workers have so far been infected with the virus across Turkey and 122 healthcare workers, including 50 physicians, have lost their lives due to this disease.

The organizations have also noted that even though they applied to the Ankara Provincial Directorate of Health to learn the exact number of healthcare workers who have lost their lives due to COVID-19 in the city, their questions have been left unanswered.

Announcing a figure based on the information they have received from their members, activists and contact tracing teams in Ankara, the organizations have indicated that as of October 21, 1,072 health workers were diagnosed with COVID-19 in the capital city.

"While the number of persons traced for contacts has been around 10 thousand a day in Ankara over the past week, the number of cases announced for Turkey is around 2 thousand," the statement has noted.

Dentists' Chamber Chair Özsoy has also shared the information that they have received from the field and said that the number of daily cases has not dropped under 3 thousand in Ankara.

"Our state must definitely announce the real numbers and inform us," Dr. Özsoy has underlined further in his speech.

SES Ankara Branch Co-Chair Yalçınkaya has raised concerns about the increasing workload of health workers amid increasing number of cases: "Health workers are burning out. The promises are not fulfilled in full. The number of employed personnel needs to be increased."

'It must be recognized as occupational disease'

Addressing the Ministry of Health, Dr. Dokuyan has listed the health organizations' demands amid the pandemic.

He has said that as it is flu season, all healthcare workers must be vaccinated against influenza free of charge and without delay. Calling on the Ministry to provide contact tracing teams, Family Medicine Center (ASM) workers and intensive care unit workers with quality personal protective equipment, Dokuyan has noted that COVID-19 needs to be recognized as an occupational accident and an occupational disease for health workers.

Underlining the importance of arranging medical institutions in line with pandemic measures, he has also reminded the Ministry that the majority of contract tracing teams consist of dentists and said, "It needs to be ensured that dentists, who account for the wide majority of contact tracing teams, work within the definition of their profession."

Raising concerns over the economic hardships faced by health workers amid the pandemic, he has also underlined that health workers waiting for their appointment must be appointed immediately and the additional payments of healthcare workers diagnosed with the disease must not be cut while their treatment is ongoing. (AS/SD)