Minister of Health, Dr. Fahrettin Koca, Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy and the Ministry of Trade, Ruhsar Pekcan attended the Coronavirus Scientific Committee Meeting. Three ministers delivered a joint press statement following the meeting.
"We did not handle this as a political situation"
Stressing that the problem was global and the struggle was national, Koca added, "We did not handle this as a political situation. We adopted scientific methods. Took decisions based on scientific data. Our only criterion was human life."
Reminding everyone that a positive case was confirmed the day before, he said, "A single case or a few cases is not an epidemic. This only means that the virus has crossed our borders. What we need to do now is to put our lives in order by taking precautions."
Noting that the virus emerged in Iran, Italy and Europe after China, Koca added, "1-2 months ahead is of vital importance for us. We have to prevent the transmission. That is why we need to follow the rules and manage this process with the help of the Turkish people."
Koca also commented:
"We enough medication in stock. In fact, we ordered some medication 3 weeks ago. So, no one has to worry about that. Also, we are rapidly opening up laboratories where needed. Before Istanbul, we opened up one in Erzurum due to the outbreak in Iran. In the following days, others will be established in Adana, Samsun and Izmir. We have enough kits, as well."
"A drug or vaccination has yet to be developed"
"Right now, a drug or vaccination has yet to be developed", said Koca
and pointed out that the coronavirus tests were 99.6% reliable.
Here are some of the highlights of Minister Ersoy's remarks:
"April 15, is an important day. It is logical to postpone the tourism demand in Turkey until the end of April. We think that it would be best to make sure that less tourists visit Turkey."
Here are some of the highlights of Minister Pekcan's remarks:
"There are no masks available in the market, and that is why our priority is public health. Our goal is to make sure that people can buy at accessible, reasonable and affordable prices. Dolayısıyla biz ihracat ön izinlerini Sağlık Bakanlığının ön iznine verdik. Ortak görüşümüz önce piyasanın doyuma ulaşması. As the MoT, we inspected 2.641 products of 2.193 companies and 2.180 are under investigation.
"Disinfectants are being audited"
Noting that disinfectants were being audited, Pekcan continued, "Today, even though it is ungrounded, we see exorbitant prices in food. We will do what is necessary to prevent that. No one will gain unfair benefit from this situation."
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