Turkey's official Covid-19 death toll tops 10,000 as 'İstanbul heading to unmanageable situation'

Photo: AA

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The number of people dying after contracting coronavirus in Turkey has exceeded 10,000, according to the daily figures of the Health Ministry.

The ministry recorded 77 new Covid-19 fatalities over the last 24 hours, bringing the toll to 10,027, said Minister Fahrettin Koca after a meeting of the Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board in İstanbul.

The official death toll of the country has been questioned by doctors' organizations and opposition politicians, who point out the higher number of excess deaths than the official death toll.

The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) previously stated that the ministry was not counting the deaths of those who received Covid-19 treatment but died without a positive PCR test.

CLICK - Does Turkey underreport coronavirus deaths? Here is what we know 

The country also registered 2,305 new coronavirus "patients," pushing the tally to 368,513, according to the Ministry data.

As Koca admitted on September 30, the ministry excludes asymptomatic cases from its daily count and announces the number of "patients," or cases with symptoms. 

Until July 29, 2020, the expression of "number of daily cases" was used on the Health Ministry's COVID-19 table. It has then been understood that after this day, it has been changed into "number of daily patients."

Table: Health Ministry

Some 1,662 more patients, meanwhile, recovered over the past day, raising the count to 319,181.

As many as 128,312 more Covid-19 tests were carried out across the country, bringing the total to over 13.60 million.

The figures showed that the number of patients in critical condition currently stands at 1,836, with 5% this week suffering from pneumonia.

The board meeting, which was being held in Ankara since the beginning of the pandemic, took place in Istanbul for the first time as the health minister is on a five-day tour to the metropolis.

The situation in İstanbul

Koca told reporters that Covid-19 in Turkey is currently being transmitted from one person to an average of three, urging the citizens to reduce movement and contact.

Arguing that Turkey does not have problems that could obstruct the health system, he said discipline is necessary for fighting the outbreak.

"If we don't control the situation in İstanbul, the pandemic will no longer be manageable," he said.

The minister called on the residents of Istanbul who have tested positive for the virus to accurately report their contacts to the filiation teams.

"Don't go out unless you [absolutely] have to," he said. "Postpone non-essential celebrations and ceremonies. This stage requires discipline."

He, however, said that travel restrictions were not being considered at the moment.

Figures announced by the Health Ministry since the start of the outbreak:

(EKN/VK)