Turkey may take 'painful measures' amid record-high Covid-19 cases and deaths

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Turkey may have to implement "painful" measures if it can't slow down the spread of the coronavirus, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has warned.

"We expect patience and support from our nation. If we comply with the rules of mask-distancing-hygiene, there will be no need for other measures," he told his Justice and Development Party's (AKP) parliamentary group today (November 25).

The president on November 17 announced a series of new measures, including restricting cafes and restaurants to takeaway service and partial curfews, which were criticized as being ambigious and insufficient. Medical organizations have advised a full lockdown for at least two weeks.

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The country has observed a new surge in the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths, registering record-high figures day after day, although the Health Ministry's figures are disputed by medical organizations and opposition politicians.

The ministry reported all-time highest numbers of daily new "patients" for four days in a row, which increased from 5,532 from Saturday to 7,381 yesterday.

As Health Minister of Fahrettin Koca admitted in late September, the ministry does not disclose the number of all cases but announces only cases with symptoms, which it refers to as "patients."

The Turkish Medical Association (TTB), the largest doctors' group in the country, estimates that the average daily number of non-hospitalized cases is over 47,000.

As the official figures for deaths have also been disputed since the start of the outbreak, the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality, which is led by Ekrem İmamoğlu, a member of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), has started disclosing the number of deaths caused by an "infectious disease" throughout the city.

Accordingly, 211, 201 and 186 people died of an infectious disease in the past three days, respectively, whereas the ministry figures for the same days for the entire country were 139, 153 and 161.

Vaccine development

While Turkey is following vaccine developments in other countries, it is also planning to unveil a local vaccine by April, according to Erdoğan.

"We have made good progress in our local vaccine. We plan to bring our own vaccine in the market by April at least," he said.

Turkey is closely following vaccine developments in China, Russia, the US and Europe, the president said.

"We have already given pre-orders for some of them. We hope to give the first shots of the vaccines by end of this month," he said.

He went on to say that the vaccine should be used for the common good of humanity regardless of political differences or commercial incentives.

"We believe that it does not make any sense for individual countries to secure themselves before the whole world is freed from the epidemic threat," he said taking a jab at developed nations.

Clinical tests of the Turkish vaccine are progressing smoothly with none of the volunteers exhibiting any side effects, according to official statements. Up until now, 44 volunteers are participating in phase 1 trials of the ERUCOV-VAC vaccine. (AS/VK)