2020 coronavirus pandemic in Turkey

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2020 coronavirus pandemic in Turkey
DiseaseCOVID-19
Virus strainSARS-CoV-2
LocationTurkey
Arrival date11 March 2020 (7 days)
OriginEurope, United States,[1] Middle East[2]
Confirmed cases98[3]
Recovered0
Deaths
1[3]
Official website
hsgm.saglik.gov.tr/tr/covid19

The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Turkey when its first case was officially confirmed on 11 March 2020 (UTC+03:00).[4] Nevertheless, there have been reports in the media concerning a potential cover-up of the actual number of cases, with significant concerns regarding the questionable methods of testing used by the government.[5][6]

Timeline[edit]

COVID-19 cases in Turkey  (
)
     Deaths        Recoveries        Active cases
Date
# of cases
2020-03-11
​
​
​
​
​
 1(n.a.)
2020-03-12
​
​
​
​
​
 1(=)
2020-03-13
​
​
​
​
​
 5(+400%)
2020-03-14
​
​
​
​
​
 6(+20% )
2020-03-15
​
​
​
​
​
 18(+200%)
2020-03-16
​
​
​
​
​
 47(+161%)
2020-03-17
​
​
​
​
​
 98(+109%)
Source: Ministry of Health
Main article: Timeline of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Turkey

January 2020[edit]

On 24 January 2020, Turkey's health ministry installed thermal cameras at the airports.[7] The ministry also decided to subject any passengers arriving from China to additional screenings and quarantine anyone showing the symptoms of the coronavirus infection. The screenings were later expanded to include countries that reported a high number of confirmed cases. Other precautionary measures on the airports included infrared guns, disinfection at all customs gates and the handing out of free surgical masks and instruction leaflets.

On 31 January, the Turkish government sent a plane to airlift 34 Turkish citizens and several others from Wuhan. The others include seven Azeris, seven Georgians and one Albanian.[8] China ordered 200 million masks from Turkey in addition to Turkey's yearly production of 150 million masks.[9]

February 2020[edit]

On 3 February, Turkey announced to stop all the flights from China.[10] The border with Iran was closed after the Iranian authorities didn't adhere to the advice of Turkey to quarantine the Iranian city of Qom.[11] On the same day, Turkey announced its decision to stop all flights to and from Iran.[12]

On 29 February, Turkey announced the termination of all flights to and from Italy, South Korea and Iraq.[13] Soon after, the border with Iraq was also closed. The ministry also established field hospitals near the Iraq and Iran borders.[14]

March 2020[edit]

Turkish cities carried out massive disinfection work in public places and mass transit vehicles. In Istanbul, the municipality decided to install hand sanitizers at stations of metrobuses.[14]

The Ministry of National Education also announced that they were using special disinfectants to keep schools clean against the virus threat. Minister Ziya Selçuk said that every surface open to contact at the schools is being sanitised, noting that vocational schools producing 100 tons of disinfectants daily supply the disinfectants for schools.[14]

In the early hours of 11 March 2020 (UTC+03:00), Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that a Turkish man who had contracted the virus while travelling in Europe was the country's first coronavirus case.[4] The patient had been placed in isolation at an undisclosed hospital, and family members of the patient were put under observation.[4]

Minister Selçuk organized a press conference on 12 March and announced that disinfection would be carried out in all schools after the closure. He said that the weekly curriculum would be structured and the necessary training and education support would be provided by EBA on the Internet and TRT on television, and they had taken whatever measures that were necessary to prevent interruptions and delays in educational programs.[15][16]

On 12 March 2020, after a meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the rest of the Turkish government, Press Secretary İbrahim Kalın announced that primary schools, middle schools, and high schools in Turkey will be closed starting from 16 March 2020 for a week. Universities will also be closed for three weeks. Sports matches will be played behind closed doors in the stadiums until the end of April. The president also postponed all his overseas visits.[17][18]

On 13 March, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca made an announcement via his official Twitter account, confirming that a relative of the first person infected with coronavirus had fallen ill with the disease and was taken under observation and necessary measures were taken.[19] In the evening, it was announced that three other people in the same family had tested positive for coronavirus, and thus the number of confirmed cases in Turkey rose to five.[20] The Grand National Assembly of Turkey announced that no visitors would be accepted to parliament between 13-31 March.[21]

On 13 March, Turkey announced its decision to stop all flights to and from Germany, France, Spain, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, Austria and the Netherlands starting from Saturday at 08.00 am until 17 April.[22] On the same day, Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gül announced that meetings in all open and closed prisons, the use of family meeting rooms and transfers between prisons were delayed for two weeks.[23]

On 14 March, following a meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the two countries temporarily stopped land and air transportation.[24] On the same day, Turkey and Georgia announced their mutual decision to close the Sarp Border Gate.[25] Later in the evening, Koca announced that the number of confirmed cases rose to six, with a pilgrim who recently returned from Umrah testing positive.[26]

On 15 March, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced that between 16 and 30 March all libraries in Turkey will be closed.[27] According to the statement made by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, 5,392 out of 10,330 citizens who returned from Umrah were quarantined in state dormitories in Ankara while the remaining 4,938 were quarantined in Konya.[28] The Ministry of the Interior announced that pavilions, discotheques, bars and night clubs will be closed temporarily starting from 10:00 on 16 March.[29] On the same day, Koca announced that the number of confirmed cases increased to 18, with 7 of the new cases originating from Europe and 3 cases originating from the United States.[1]

On 16 March, the Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs announced a nationwide ban on prayer gatherings in mosques, including Friday prayers, due to the pandemic.[30] Later that day, the Ministry of the Interior also sent a notice on coronavirus precautions to the 81 provinces of Turkey, temporarily closing all public gathering places such as cafes, gyms, Internet cafés and movie theaters, except shops and restaurants not offering music, starting 24:00 that evening.[31][32] Fahrettin Koca announced that Egypt, Ireland, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the UK were added to the list of countries for which the flight ban was imposed.[33] Koca also announced that the number of confirmed cases rose to 47, with new cases originating from Middle East, Europe and the United States.[34][2] The Directorate of Communications announced that President Erdoğan will head a comprehensive coordination meeting on Wednesday to discuss plans for combating the new type of coronavirus and inform the public about the results afterwards.[35]

On 17 March, Minister Selçuk visited TRT studios where content related to the new distance education format was prepared, and stated that the new process was being reviewed to the finest detail, and that the planning and infrastructure preparations would be completed by the week of 23 March. Selçuk stated that the first lesson using this training technique would be given by him.[36] Later that day, Minister Koca reported the first death from the coronavirus, a 89-year-old patient, while the number of confirmed cases rose to 98.[3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Son dakika haberi... Bakan Koca açıkladı! Vaka sayısı arttı". Hürriyet. 15 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Son dakika haberi: Bakan Koca açıkladı: Vaka sayısı 47'ye çıktı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 16 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Son dakika haberler: Sağlık Bakanı Koca açıkladı! Türkiye'de corona virüsü nedeniyle bir kişi hayatını kaybetti". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 17 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  4. ^ a b c "Turkey confirms first coronavirus patient, recently returned from Europe". Daily Sabah. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  5. ^ "Government scrambles to contain coronavirus as Turkish cases triple". AL-Monitor. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Low number of reported coronavirus cases in Turkey raises eyebrows". Ahval. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  7. ^ "China virus sends shockwaves across travel sector, including in Turkey". DailySabah. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  8. ^ Aksut, Fahri (31 January 2020). "Turkish plane en route to China to airlift citizens". www.aa.com.tr. AA. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  9. ^ "Coronavirus spreads to more countries: All the latest updates". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 20 February 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  10. ^ "Turkey stops all flights from China as part of coronavirus measures – Turkey News". Hürriyet Daily News. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  11. ^ "Health Minister of Turkey: We advised Iranians to quarantine Qom but they didn't listen". Iran International. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  12. ^ Wintour, Patrick (23 February 2020). "Turkey and Pakistan close borders with Iran over coronavirus deaths". The Guardian.
  13. ^ "Türkiye'nin Güney Kore, İtalya ve Irak ile gidiş-geliş tüm yolcu uçuşları durduruldu". Sputnik Türkiye. 29 February 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  14. ^ a b c "Turkey leading example in fight against coronavirus". Daily Sabah. 8 March 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  15. ^ "Milli Eğitim Bakanı Selçuk'tan eğitimde koronavirüs önlemlerine ilişkin açıklama". Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  16. ^ "Milli Eğitim Bakanı Ziya Selçuk'un, koronavirüse karşı alınan tedbirlerin detaylarını ve uzaktan eğitim sürecine ilişkin açıklaması". Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  17. ^ "Son dakika haberleri: Beştepe'deki corona virüs toplantısı sona erdi! Okullar tatil edildi". Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  18. ^ "Cumhurbaşkanlığı Sözcüsü Kalın: İlk, orta ve liseler 1 hafta üniversiteler 3 hafta tatil edilecek". Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  19. ^ "Sağlık Bakanı Fahrettin Koca ikinci vakayı açıkladı". Twitter. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  20. ^ "Türkiye'de koronavirüs vaka sayısı 5'e yükseldi". Sputnik. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  21. ^ "TBMM'ye Ziyaretçi Girişine İlişkin Açıklama". Grand National Assembly of Turkey. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  22. ^ "Ulaştırma ve Altyapı Bakanı Turhan: 9 ülkeye uçuşlar durduruldu". Anadolu Agency. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  23. ^ "Adalet Bakanı Gül: Açık ve kapalı tüm cezaevlerindeki görüşler iki hafta süreyle ertelenmiştir". Anadolu Agency. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  24. ^ "Türkiye ile Azerbaycan arasında ulaşım durduruldu". Gerçek Gündem. 14 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  25. ^ "Türkiye ile Gürcistan'dan Sarp Sınır Kapısı'nı geçici olarak kapatma kararı". Sputnik. 14 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  26. ^ "Bakan Koca'dan son dakika corona virüs açıklaması! Türkiye'de vaka sayısı 6'ya çıktı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 14 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  27. ^ "Coronavirus: Turkey to shut public libraries". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  28. ^ "Umreden dönen 10 bin 330 kişi Ankara ve Konya'daki öğrenci yurtlarında karantinaya alındı". Sputnik. 15 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  29. ^ "İçişleri Bakanlığı: Koronavirüs sebebiyle eğlence mekanlarının faaliyeti geçici olarak durduruldu". Sputnik. 15 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  30. ^ "Turkey's Diyanet bans prayer gatherings, Friday prayers in mosques due to coronavirus". Daily Sabah. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  31. ^ "Son dakika haberleri... Corona virüsü önlemleri: Kahvehaneler, kafeler, spor salonları kapatılıyor". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 16 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  32. ^ "Son dakika... AVM ve lokantalar hariç tüm mekanlar kapatılıyor!" [Last minute ... All places are being closed except for shopping malls and restaurants!]. Haberturk. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  33. ^ "Sağlık Bakanı Koca: Koronavirüs testi pozitif çıkan yeni vakalarımız var, 6 ülkeye daha uçuş yasağı getirildi". Sputnik. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  34. ^ "Sağlık Bakanı Fahrettin Koca: Pozitif çıkan yeni vakalarımız var". Posta. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  35. ^ "Bakan Koca'dan corona virüs açıklaması: Toplam vaka 47 oldu". Milliyet. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  36. ^ "Uzaktan eğitimde ilk dersi Bakan Ziya Selçuk verecek". Anadolu Agency. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.

External links[edit]

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