COVID-19 pandemic may end soon: Expert

ISTANBUL

Turkish experts are more hopeful regarding the course of the pandemic as the country’s two-year vaccination drive, along with other measures, has helped drastically in bringing down the number of daily coronavirus infections.

Professor Özgür Enginyurt, a family medicine specialist from Ordu University, said the decline in numbers of daily cases and COVID-19 related deaths proved the effectiveness of the vaccines.

He stated that the Omicron was a relatively ineffective variant and that the coronavirus may lose its effectiveness as a result of possible new variants and other positive factors that may be seen in the future.

Stating that the coronavirus will be similar to bird and swine flu seen in Turkey in the past years, Enginyurt said: “Just as the flu virus changes every year, there will be new variations after the Omicron.”

“This virus, like other viruses that cause upper respiratory tract infections, will normalize like bird and swine flu and will not threaten our lives,” Enginyurt said, but adding that it will continue to exist.

He emphasized that May, when the weather will start to warm up, could be a key month.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 22,345 in the past 24 hours, and 118 more people have died, the Health Ministry announced on March 16.

Some 32,364 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, the ministry said, adding that 324,058 tests were conducted over the past day.