‘Pandemic units in İstanbul hospitals are full, new ones are opened'

* Photo: Twitter

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Turkey has been going through "controlled normalization" since March 2. With the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) measures eased on a provincial basis, the numbers of cases and deaths are on the increase.

According to the most recent coronavirus table shared by the Ministry of Health yesterday (March 28), the number of daily cases is 29,058, that of patients is 1,305 and deaths is 153 across Turkey.

In the first risk map unveiled by Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca, İstanbul, which was once called the "Wuhan of Turkey" by the Minister himself, saw 70 to 80 cases per 100 thousand people.

However, this figure has steadily increased. According to the latest figures, there are 251.12 cases per 100 thousand people in the city.

Amid this spike in cases, we have spoken with İstanbul Medical Chamber (İTO) Secretary General Prof. Osman Küçükosmanoğlu.

Küçükosmanoğlu has noted that the number of daily cases has hit 6 thousands in İstanbul, adding that this number might be much higher.

"This is not officially announced information, but the risk map shared by the Ministry of Health confirms it as well. It was 68 cases per 100 thousand people at first, it has now quadrupled," he has added.

Case numbers per 100 thousand people (March 13-19, 2021)

'It will surpass the numbers in late 2020'

"We, in İstanbul, had the worst picture in November and December 2020," Prof. Küçükosmanoğlu has reminded us and added:

"There was a decrease in January, it started to increase again in mid-February. The daily number of fatalities was over 250 in November while it was announced as 250 for the entire country. But, we, only in İstanbul, saw 250 coronavirus deaths a day.

"The number of deaths has now increased to 60-70 a day, but the way things stand, it will surpass the numbers in November and December. Mutated virus is very widespread in İstanbul, we can say that almost half of the cases diagnosed in İstanbul are due to mutated virus."

'Non-COVID patients are affected'

According to Prof. Küçükosmanoğlu, the increase in the number of cases in the Black Sea might have affected İstanbul as there is no travel ban:

"The number of cases has rapidly increased since March 1. Applications to hospitals have increased now. As the units and intensive care services allocated for COVID-19 are full, new ones are being opened.

"We cannot say that all beds and intensive care units are full, but those allocated for COVID-19 patients are full. COVID-19 units are now formed from other intensive care units, which affects non-COVID patients."

'Increase in cases, burnout in health workers'

Prof. Küçükosmanoğlu has raised concerns that the increasing cases lead to a higher workload for health workers, which brings about burnout:

"As a result of the vaccination as well, there is a significant drop in the number of health workers who have caught the disease or lost their lives. However, as the vaccination is not at a level that ensures social immunization, we keep on protecting ourselves. The risk is not zero. But, due to increasing cases, health workers still experience major burnout.

"We are not holding citizens accountable, the responsibility lies with the political power holders. You cannot hold 'jam-packed' congresses on the one side and tell citizens to stay home on the other. The congresses of bar associations are prevented, students' protests are prevented due to the outbreak, but the congresses keep on being held.

'We have lost 47 fellow physicians'

"Citizens cannot hold a funeral to bury their loved ones, but everyone attends the funeral of a reputable person. This causes distrust in citizens.

"It also leads to anger on the part of healthcare workers because, to them, all of these people are patients, they mean an increasing workload and lives being lost before their eyes. We have lost 47 fellow physicians and 26 healthcare workers in İstanbul so far. As a matter of fact, the number of deceased healthcare workers might be much higher.

"You can end the outbreak only by including healthcare workers in policies that you will pursue, but we are not in any of the decisions taken.

"They are talking about the decisions taken by the Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board. The Science Board is in the position of a scapegoat, so to speak. When there are undesirable consequences, the Science Board is held accountable, but the Science Board has no responsibility."

'1 million people vaccinated in İstanbul'

Concluding his remarks, Küçükosmanoğlu has also talked about the vaccination efforts in İstanbul. According to the information shared by the physician, 2 million 200 thousand 77 people have been vaccinated so far, only 1 million of them have received the second dose.

"In other words, we can say that the number of people who have been immunized here is 1 million," he has underlined. 

"Vaccination rate is much lower than 10 percent. But when the President or the Minister of Health talks about the vaccination rate, they refer to the total number. But 2 million does not reflect the reality," he has added.

'We have the capacity to vaccinate'

Noting that "the vaccine is apparently safe and has no side effects," İstanbul Medical Chamber Secretary General Küçükosmanoğlu has said:

"6 million people in total have received 2 doses. There has been a significant drop in the number of fatalities among the people aged over 65 and health workers. For this reason, vaccination needs to continue fast.

"The primary sectors in services, those working in transportation and food and teachers must be vaccinated quickly. If we had started vaccination in January, we would have ended it by now. But there are problems with the vaccine procurement and we cannot proceed fast enough. We have the capacity to vaccinate, but we do not have vaccines available." (RT/SD)