PodcastExpert slams Turkish police's breathalyzer tests amid COVID-19 pandemic
An expert from Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University slammed a police officer's request for him to perform a breathalyzer test at a road control. Prof. Baki Umut Tuğay refused to take the test, called the police headquarters and urged the Interior Ministry to halt breathalyzer tests.
Duvar English
A professor in western Turkey slammed police's alcohol-measuring breathalyzers, which he was asked to test with, noting that the equipment present a risk for COVID-19 transmission.
Prof. Baki Umut Tuğay said that he was stopped by police in a road control near central Anatolian Konya, where an officer asked him to blow into a breathalyzer.
"I told them I wouldn't take the test, since the breathalyzer was probably filled with viruses. They said that they were also under risk for performing breathalyzer tests," the expert tweeted.
Dün akşam Konya yakınlarında yolda trafik ekipleri rutin kontrol için durdurdu ve genç memur arkadaş elinde alkolmetre ile alkol kontrolü yapmak istedi. Kendisine bu ortamda asla alkolmetreye üflemeyeceğimi, elindeki aletin resmen virüs dolu olduğunu ifade ederek
— Baki Umut Tuğay (@umuttugay) August 16, 2020
The expert said that he called the police headquarters, who then ordered the road control officers to suspend breathalyzer tests.
Tuğay urged the Interior Ministry to take precautions against COVID-19 transmission during breathalyzer tests.
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