‘Turkey needs lockdown for at least three, four weeks’

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Chaired by President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the cabinet will convene today (November 17).

It is expected that more comprehensive measures will be announced against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic amid the increasing number of cases and fatalities in the country.

In fact, addressing the reporters following the Coronavirus Science Board meeting yesterday, Health Minister Koca said that the board would recommend "concrete measures to prevent the spread of the disease."

Commenting on a possible lockdown or curfew against this backdrop, Turkish Medical Association (TTB) Central Council Chair Prof. Şebnem Korur-Fincancı has noted that a lockdown, not a curfew, must be in effect for at least three or four weeks and this needs to be done by providing the necessary financial support to workers and shopkeepers who are likely to suffer economic losses and hardships in the meantime.

'Citizens must be provided with financial support'

As reported by Yerkin Report, Prof. Şebnem Korur-Fincancı has made the following recommendations about a possible lockdown:

"First of all, workplaces, except for the ones that require essential production and labor, must be closed for at least three or four weeks. According to scientific studies, a lockdown for two weeks reduces the infection rate by 22 percent and a lockdown for four weeks reduces this rate by 38 percent.

"People must be provided with financial support so that shopkeepers, employees and the citizens without social security will not be condemned to starvation. Even the mask expense is a burden for families.

"A restriction on intercity travel is definitely necessary. Studies have shown that a restriction for two weeks reduces the infection by 24 percent while a restriction for four weeks reduces it by 42 percent.

"Considering especially in terms of inequalities, people live in large numbers in relatively small houses in the neighborhoods where the working class and the poor live. This is something that increases the infection. In fact, it is important for people's health that they go to the parks and green spaces in their neighborhoods and take a walk by keeping their social distance.

"Another issue is the increase in the incidents of violence against women and children and in sexual offenses caused by being confined in small houses with a large number of people for a long time. For this reason, it is good to restrict social mobility while allowing for controlled individual mobility. This is also important for the ones aged over 65." (DŞ/SD)