Pandemic situation appears to be stable, says expert

ISTANBUL

The pandemic situation in Turkey appears to have stabilized, an expert has said, however, warning that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 still poses risks, particularly to the unvaccinated.

The recent increase in coronavirus cases Turkey has witnessed is due to this strain, said Afşin Kayıpmaz from the Health Ministry’s Science Board.

“In other nations, infections first peaked then stabilized before falling and Turkey has moved to this stable phase,” Kayıpmaz noted.

Meanwhile, the latest weekly data, which Health Minister Fahrettin Koca shared on Twitter yesterday, showed that the incidence rates declined in Istanbul and İzmir, the country’s third largest city, but increased in Ankara between Feb. 5 and Feb. 11 from Jan. 29-Feb. 4.

The incidence rate, measuring the number of coronavirus infections per 100,000 people, dropped to 718 from 895 in Istanbul and fell to 1,017 from 1,229 in İzmir.

But the capital saw the incidence rate climb to 1,324 from 1,280 over the same period.

Kayıpmaz, however, reiterated that the virus is still a threat to the elderly, people with chronic illnesses and the unvaccinated.

“Most of the patients at our hospital are either those who have not received any dose of the COVID-19 vaccine or skipped the booster shot,” Kayıpmaz said.