Virus cases remain steady, says minister

ISTANBUL

The number of COVID-19 cases in Turkey has been steady for more than a month, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said, urging people to stick to the anti-virus measures to keep the pandemic under control.

“Over the past six weeks, the daily infections have not fluctuated too much. We have not seen the sudden increases [in the number of cases] Europe is witnessing. To maintain this favorable situation and reduce loss of lives, we need to be fully vaccinated and adhere to the rules without any compromise,” Koca tweeted.

Turkey saw a sharp rise in the COVID-19 infections in April this year. The number of new cases climbed to record highs, standing at more than 60,000 in mid-April. After implementing strict measures, the cases declined in the following weeks.

In June, Turkey would record around 5,000 cases a day. As the pandemic situation improved, the government lifted much of the restrictions in summer, including weekday curfews and lockdowns on weekends.

Since the start of December, the daily number of cases has been around 20,000.

While the government lifted most of the restrictions, the country’s vaccination drive gained momentum during summer, with more than 1 million doses of the COVID-19 jabs administered on some days.

But, the inoculation drive slowed significantly after the summer, alarming health experts and officials. Koca recently complained that many people were skipping their third booster dose, stating that this poses risks as due to the winter season, people were likely to spend more time indoors, which provides a ground for the virus to spread. He constantly calls on people to get their jabs on time.