Someone in Turkey dies from COVID-19 every 10 minutes, says top health association

Someone in Turkey dies from COVID-19 every 10 minutes, a member of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) said. Meanwhile, another expert said that the pandemic was out of control in the country. "A mentality that puts all the blame on citizens and all the responsibility on health workers couldn't have succeeded, and it didn't," said TTB board member Doğan Eroğulları.

Friday November 20 2020 03:32 pm

Serkan Alan / DUVAR

Official data from the Health Ministry shows that someone in Turkey dies from COVID-19 every 10 minutes, Turkish Medical Association (TTB) Director of Family Practitioners Nuri Seha Yüksel said.

Yüksel made the comments during an online press meeting while sharing the results of TTB November Pandemic Survey on Family Medicine. The press meeting was also attended by several other TTB executives.

“We've lost control of this pandemic. A mentality that puts all the blame on citizens and all the responsibility on health workers couldn't have succeeded, and it didn't," said TTB board member Doğan Eroğulları.

TTB member Emrah Kırımlı said that there has been a "horrifying increase" in the number of COVID-19 cases in Turkey. The number of patients that each family practitioner sees has doubled since the beginning of September, Kırımlı said.

The number of COVID-19 patients per family practitioner in Istanbul rose from 7.6 in October to 31.12 in November, while the same number went from 12 to 23.95 in Ankara and from 3 to 14.42 in the Aegean province of İzmir, he said.

Some 123 people died from COVID-19 in Turkey on Nov. 20, while 4,542 new "patients" were diagnosed, according to figures shared by the Health Ministry.