Turkish hospitals running at ICU bed occupancy rate of 59-61 percent, says Health Minister
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said that Turkish hospitals have been running at an ICU bed occupancy rate of between 59-61 percent for the last month. Koca’s remarks came as Turkey registered 1,053 new virus cases and 19 new fatalities on July 7.
Duvar English
Turkey registered 1,053 new coronavirus cases over the past day, bringing the tally to 207,897, the Health Ministry data showed on July 7.
The country's death toll from the virus rose to 5,260, with 19 new fatalities reported over the last 24 hours, according to the data.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca wrote on Twitter Turkish hospitals have been running at an ICU bed occupancy rate of between 59-61 percent for the last month.
He said the number of new patients admitted to hospitals are as many as discharged ones and that the situation is same with the intubated patients.
There has been an average of 7 percent fewer new cases over the last three days in five provinces which normally see a considerable number of cases, he added.
The minister has been for weeks urging the nation to comply with the virus measures saying the claims that the virus had weakened do not reflect the truth.
At the start of June, Turkey opened restaurants and cafes, and lifted weekend stay-home orders and inter-city travel bans. A subsequent doubling of daily coronavirus cases prompted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to warn the country had lost some ground in its battle with coronavirus.
As Turks poured out into streets, parks, malls and vacation spots last month, Ankara made face masks compulsory in major provinces. More measures could come even as officials have said there is no plan to slow momentum in the economy, which emerged in June from a near standstill since mid-March.