Minister of Health, Dr. Fahrettin Koca, delivered a statement at the press conference following the Coronavirus Scientific Committee meeting.
In his statement, Koca pointed out that the virus was affecting everyone equally.
"We established a Social Sciences Board"
Noting that Turkey took plenty of measures before any other countries did, Koca added,
"One example for this was our scientific board. Their recommendations guided national politics. However, different needs arose for us to be better prepared against this disease as a society. We are in need of instructions and rules to make our lives easier. For this reason, we established the Social Sciences Committee. I wish this committee will achieve fruitful conclusions."
Noting that Turkey had entered another stage in the fight against the disease since the virus was detected all across Turkey, Koca added, "We all need to be sensitive towards this issue. There are two sides in this fight. On one side is the virus, which can spread very quickly, and on the other side is us. It is time to show solidarity and cooperate. On for all. Our common denominator is human health."
"We were able to deliver drugs to people free-of-charge"
Saying that isolation is the most effective protective measure against the pandemic, Koca continued, "Compared to the number of patients, the number of deaths is limited. We are seeing the results of starting drug therapy early on. The strength of our healthcare system should reassure everyone. The Ministry is also leading vaccine development efforts."
"We have lost 76 more lives today"
Sharing data on the last 24 hours, Koca continued, "Today, we conducted 20.023 tests. The number of cases is 3.892. We have lost 76 more lives today. 256 cases have been recovered."
"Home-isolated patients will be monitored digitally"
Pointing out that an application was developed to make sure that some cases are isolated and monitored at home, Koca added “Home-isolated patients will be monitored digitally. Through this application, we can warn them, if needed. I will give further details about the application later on."
Two hospitals with thousand bed capacity in Istanbul
"This will be a hospital with a thousand single rooms. We are not planning for these hospitals to no longer be in use after the pandemic. The hospitals will have operating rooms and all rooms can also function as intensive care, if needed."
"Bed occupancy rate has not reached 50 percent"
With regard to intensive care and bed occupancy rates, Koca commented,
"For COVID-19 and other patients, intensive care occupancy rate is at 62%. 38% is still empty. Bed occupancy rate has not reached 50 percent. But, as a precaution, we are planning to establish two hospitals with a thousand bed capacity each on both sides of Istanbul."
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