End of partial indoor mask mandate near as number of cases drop

ANKARA

The daily number of COVID-19 cases has dropped below 1,000, opening the way for the country to lift the indoor mask mandate fully.

“The daily number [of coronavirus cases] was 905 on May 22. The day we have been waiting for has arrived,” Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted.

As the coronavirus pandemic appeared to be receding, Turkey lifted the outdoor mask mandate in March and scrapped the indoor mask mandate partially on April 26, with the exception of hospitals and public transportation.

“The indoor mandate will continue to stay in effect in public transport and health institutions until the number of cases decreases below 1,000 daily,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at a press conference on April 26.

As the number of infections dropped below 1,000, Koca on May 22 said, “If the number will be below 1,000 successively for three days, then the partial indoor mask mandate will be lifted.”

Koca highlighted his hope to “give the news of low numbers” in the coming days.

Turkey announced the first COVID-19 case on March 13, 2020. With the rise in the number of coronavirus cases, Erdoğan announced measures, face mask mandates, partial curfews and lockdowns on May 4 of the same year.

It was the end of December 2020 when the first batch of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine was brought to Turkey.

Since Dec. 30, 2021, citizens have been administered the indigenous coronavirus vaccine Turkovac in state hospitals across the country.