Turkey's Coronavirus Cases Top 20 Thousand, Minister Says Measures Not Enough in İstanbul
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Turkey's death toll from the novel coronavirus pandemic has climbed to 425 with 69 deaths in the last 24 hours, Health Minister announced today (April 3) at a press briefing in the capital Ankara. The number of Covid-19 cases in the country has reached 20,921 with 2,786 new cases, Koca said.
Saying that virus is spreading very quickly and one person transmists the virus to 16 people on average in İstanbul, the most affected city of the country, the minister urged for more measures. Despite the steps taken so far, the mobility on the streets has not decreased to a level they would like to, he added.
İstanbul, the largest city of Turkey with a population of nearly 16 million, has around 60 percent of the confirmed cases and half of the deaths with 212. The minister previously advised that "time spent on the streets should be restricted" in the city, a well as Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu calling on the government to impose a curfew in the metropolis.
"We are at the beginning of the outbreak"
Koca further said that "We are at the beginning of the outbreak," adding that the next few weeks would be critical.
According to the information Koca disclosed, a total of 140,716 people were tested for coronavirus as 16,160 people have been tested since yesterday. 1,251 people are in intensive care, 867 are intubated and 484 have recovered, he added.
As part of measures against the pandemic, the Interior Ministry shut down most venues and cancelled mass events, as well as quarantining dozens of settlements in various parts of the country
The novel coronavirus outbreak began in China's Wuhan city in December 2019. It has now spread to at least 179 countries and territories, infecting over a million people and killing more than 50 thousand, according to data compiled by John Hopkins University in the US. Over 170 thousand people have recovered from the disease. Italy, China, Iran, and Spain have been the most affected countries.
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About the novel coronavirusWhat is a coronavirus? Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which may cause illness in animals or humans. In humans, several coronaviruses are known to cause respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The most recently discovered coronavirus causes coronavirus disease Covid-19. What is Covid-19? Covid-19 is the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus. This new virus and disease were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. How does Covid-19 spread? People can catch Covid-19 from others who have the virus. The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with Covid-19 coughs or exhales. These droplets land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch Covid-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth. Studies to date suggest that the virus is mainly transmitted through contact with respiratory droplets rather than through the air. Source: World Health Organization |
(VK)