Turkish model ‘proved effective’

ISTANBUL

Turkey has managed the pandemic better than the U.S., a Turkish doctor who works in New York has said. “Turkey managed this process much more better than the U.S.,” Sine Arat Akten told Milliyet daily. 

Akten is among doctors fighting against the deadly coronavirus pandemic at the forefront at the Woodhull HHC in Brooklyn. During the pandemic, Akten started writing a diary on working under exhausting conditions to save the lives of many.

Her notes have recently been turned into a book titled “A Turkish doctor’s coronavirus diary” and published in Turkey.
“All the stories I told are real, I only added a little fiction,” Akten said. 

“In the early days of the epidemic, in March, we barely found enough health equipment such as ventilators and even a mask to protect healthcare workers. We had a lot of difficulties when there was a big rush to the hospital,” she said. “We decided on the death of some people. That was the hardest part of my job.”

In the book, Aker also spoke of her own struggle with the COVID19. “During the pandemic, I had caught the virus.

There was mild fever and a runny nose. I lost my sense of smell, but I continued working with a mask,” she said.

Aker praised Turkey’s efforts in combatting the virus. “Thanks to my brother, also a doctor, and his wife, I followed the developments in Turkey. Turkey managed this process much more better than the U.S.,” she said.

“In the United States, New York is relatively better now but cases still on the rise in the Midwest, South, West.”