İstanbul Medical Chamber Warns Against Relaxing Covid-19 Measures Too Early

Photo: AA

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Although the increase in the coronavirus cases has slowed down, the outbreak is still serious in İstanbul, according to the weekly report of the İstanbul Medical Chamber.

"With the decrease in the number of detected cases and deaths, the authorities have begun to talk about relaxing the measures, the chamber noted, adding that Turkey has the eighth most cases and 12th most fatalities in the world despite counting only patients with a positive PCR test," said the chamber.

"Despite the decrease in the number of patients applied to hospitals and the inpatients in the eighth week of the pandemic compared to previous weeks, the danger remains serious in Istanbul.

"We would like to remind that the discussion about the relaxation of measures should be evaluated in the light of this fact and that the cost of an early and wrong decision will be heavy."

The government has shut down schools, most public venues and canceled events, as well as applying weekend curfews and travel restrictions for 31 larger cities.

Accuracy of ministry figures

The chamber also said the number of deaths was about 3 to 35 percent higher compared to last year, citing İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca previously said that the difference was due to the fact that those who died in İstanbul were not buried in their hometowns, hence increasing the number in the city. However, İmamoğlu said they compared the number of deaths, not burials.

Doctors' organizations say that the ministry's tally includes only the patients with a positive PCR test whereas many patients receive treatment according to clinical findings despite testing negative. PCR tests are carried out with throat swabs, where the virus might not be detected after a certain stage of the disease.

The chamber also stated that there are more than 4,500 infected healthcare workers in İstanbul. Koca previously stated that 7,428 healthcare workers were infected throughout the country. İstanbul has been the most-affected city from the pandemic in Turkey, having nearly 60 percent of the total cases. (AS/VK)