Health minister warns against ‘pandemic fatigue’

ISTANBUL

People have become demotivated about adhering to the rules against COVID-19 and conditions are leading to an “anti-virus measures’ fatigue,” Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said. 

He warned that the anti-virus measures must be strictly observed once again during the winter months. 

“Measures should be followed when and where needed. You can take your mask off if there is nobody around, but the face mask is a must in crowded places. Over time, [the pandemic] conditions have led to an “anti-virus measures’ fatigue” and the public to largely ignore those rules,” Koca said on Twitter on Nov. 17.

Turkey saw a spike in the number of daily coronavirus cases in April, with infections hitting a record of more than 60,000 cases. The cases, however, fell significantly in June and July to around 5,000. However, since mid-September, they climbed again to around daily 30,000 cases. 

Over the past two weeks, Turkey has been recording fewer than 30,000 daily infections. 

But experts are warning that even though the number of daily cases appears to have plateaued around 20,000 and 30,000, some risks may lay ahead this winter. 

Turkey may see infections start rising within two to three weeks, Professor Levent Akın from the Health Ministry’s Science Board recently said, echoing Koca’s concern that people are ignoring the anti-virus measures at a time when the country’s vaccine drive has slowed. 

Since it rolled out its inoculation program in January, Turkey has administered nearly 119 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with some 50 million people having been double jabbed. 

Close to 56 million people have received at least one dose of the jab, while around 12 million people have been given a booster shot. 

Meanwhile, officials from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) are considering possible actions regarding more than 90,000 inmates who were released from open prisons in mid-April last year as part of the COVID-19 measures.

 Those inmates are now scheduled to return to prisons by Nov. 30.

“Nearly half of those inmates have committed crimes again after they were released from prisons. We do not favor the idea of keeping them outside if risks from COVID-19 are not high,” they told daily Milliyet. 

They are currently discussing whether they should continue to be on “leave” or they should be granted probation, officials said, noting that no final decision has been made.