İstanbul is still a center like Wuhan, warns Turkish Medical Association

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The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) Central Council has announced that "the premature reopening in Turkey despite all warnings of the TTB and experts is leading to alarming consequences in the country."

Releasing a written statement today (June 18), the Council has reiterated that the reopening steps started to be taken in Turkey "while the pandemic was still ravaging the world and the first wave of the outbreak had not yet been taken under control in the country."

The Council has also commented on the figures shared by Health Minister Koca at the press conference following a Science Board meeting yesterday.

TTB has, once again, indicated that the Ministry of Health insistently avoids sharing epidemiological data about the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The increase in the number of confirmed cases in Turkey is alarming," the statement has read and added, "If the Ministry of Health shares its data, it will be possible to calculate the rate of infection and fatalities by provinces, to compare these data and to take more effective measures."

The statement has streesed that a struggle against the pandemic falls beyond the responsibility of individuals, requiring public will and sensitivity.

'1,074 confirmed cases a day on average'

Referring to the partial figures shared by Minister Koca yesterday, TTB has indicated that the first signs of the early reopening have come up:

"In Turkey, the total number of confirmed cases reported by the Ministry of Health in the last month from May 18 to June 17, 2020 is 33 thousand 292, which means that the average number of daily cases is 1,074.

"When the figures cited by the Minister as to the 'average number of daily cases in the last month' in 10 provinces are added together, it accounts for 1,099 cases a day on average, which cannot be understood.

"Not only is this number higher than the number of cases announced by the Minister on a daily basis, but the fact that this information was solely about 10 provinces also sparks a debate about the number of cases in 71 provinces. A statement to be made by the Minister about the remaining 71 provinces is important to eliminate the question marks in minds.

Increase in Ankara, Bursa, Kocaeli, Konya, Diyarbakır

"According to the information given by the Minister of Health at the press conference yesterday, 60.80 percent of all cases reported in the last month were in İstanbul. While 18.66 percent of Turkey's population lives in İstanbul, over 60 percent of the cases are still reported from there, which shows that the city is still a center of density like 'Wuhan'."

Concluding its remarks, the TTB Central Council has referred to the statistics shared by the Minister about Ankara, Bursa, Kocaeli, Konya and Diyarbakır and said that these provinces are among the ones that have reported confirmed cases at a higher rate in the last month.

"The increase in the number of confirmed cases in Turkey is alarming. If the Ministry of Health shares its data, it will be possible to calculate the rate of infection and fatalities by provinces, to compare these data and to take more effective measures," the TTB has noted.

The Council has reiterated its call to the Ministry of Health to announce the epidemiological data and to include professional organizations of health in decision making processes. (AS/SD)