Ankara should reveal details of COVID-19 mutation patients: Turkish Medical Association
The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) urged Ankara to reveal details about patients of COVID-19 mutations in Turkey to prevent a snowballing number of infections and deaths. The TTB urged the ministry to report the number, location and severity of the cases.
Duvar English
Turkey's Health Ministry should reveal details about patients of the mutated coronavirus, including their age, location and medical condition, the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) said in a public statement on Feb. 8.
The Turkish Health Ministry's most recent information release about the mutations was a series of tweets by Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Feb. 3, when he reported 196 patients of the United Kingdom mutation, two patients of the South African mutation and one patient of the Brazilian mutation.
Noting data that the mutated virus makes patients up to 35 percent sicker in the United Kingdom, the TTB urged Ankara to release detailed data immediately to minimize risks in Turkey.
"If the rate of infection is up 50 percent, and the infection period is six days, an initial group of 1,000 patients will infect 7.59 times more in a month, and 57.67 times more in two months," the TTB said.
As a result, infections and deaths are expected to inevitably snowball, the TTB cautioned, urging against the opaque informational policies employed by Ankara since the start of the pandemic.