Turkey's coronavirus situation is out of control: Unity for Democracy

Duvar English

The Unity for Democracy platform has released an announcement on its website on Aug. 24 asserting that Turkey's present coronavirus situation is out of control and has called for urgent measures to be taken, citing recent figures and statements from healthcare experts.

The platform referenced a report from the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), prepared in the fifth month of Turkey's coronavirus pandemic, that indicated that the number of actual coronavirus cases in the country is ten times as high as the official figures reported by the Health Ministry.

The government and the TTB have repeatedly butted heads over the number of coronavirus cases in Turkey and how the figures are being recorded and reported.

“Shopping malls were opened, exams attended by millions of students were held. Mass worship demonstrations were held at Hagia Sophia, and the celebrations of the Eid al-Adha holiday were not limited. On the other hand, democratic activities were prevented using violence on the pretext of the epidemic. The epidemic cannot be controlled,” the platform said in its statement.

While the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that 10 percent of those contracting the coronavirus worldwide are healthcare workers, Turkey's Health Ministry has refused to release the number of healthcare workers that have tested positive for the virus since the first case was announced on March 11.

The platform said that many healthcare workers in Turkey do not have sufficient protective materials and have to come up with them on their own. While the OECD standard for doctors per 100,000 people is 348, the figure in Turkey is just 187.

The platform included a list of immediate demands involving improving the working conditions, pay and support for healthcare workers, and utilizing all available resources to fight the pandemic as a priority.

“It is clear that the pandemic is out of control. Society has been abandoned to its own measures, and the economic crisis, poverty and unemployment aggravated by the pandemic has reached extraordinary dimensions,” the platform said in its statement.