Turkish Health Minister's statement indicates further skewing of COVID-19 data
A recent statement by Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca revealed that official COVID-19 data has been faulty as early as April, when the minister said that some 20 percent of tests yielded positive results. According to this rate, an average of 200,000 positive results should have been reported in April, but the actual number was closer to 120,000, Turkish Medical Association (TTB) COVID-19 committee member Prof. Kayıhan Pala said.
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A recent statement by Turkey's Health Minister Fahrettin Koca revealed that the misrepresentation of official COVID-19 numbers goes as far back as April, daily BirGün reported.
"Back in April, the rate of positive results was 20 percent, so if we tested five people, one would test positive," Koca told news broadcaster HaberTürk in a recent statement.
More than 80,000 diagnoses were hidden from the public according to the rate of positive results given by Minister Koca, Turkish Medical Association (TTB) COVID-19 Committee member Prof. Kayıhan Pala said.
Noting that the Health ministry reported conducting 941,214 tests and a mere 106,673 cases in April, Pala said the rate of positive results is 11.3 percent according to ministry data.
"If the rate of positive results is 20 percent, there would be 188,243 cases; in that case, 81,570 cases were not reported," Pala said in an Oct. 5 tweet.
Meanwhile, Minister Koca's recent revelation that the ministry only reported symptomatic patients creates further confusion about what official numbers mean.
The Health Ministry only counts patients who tested positive for COVID-19 and present with symptoms, a definition of "cases" that's been slammed by medical professionals of all ranks.
In his statement to HaberTürk, Minister Koca said that the rate of positive results in tests has dropped to 10 percent in October, which would mean that there are about 10,000 diagnoses each day, as the ministry reports an average 100,000 tests each day.
However, Health Ministry data has been reporting around 1,500 cases each day in recent days, indicating that some results are veiled from the public.