Minister of Health, Dr. Fahrettin Koca held a press conference following the Coronavirus Scientific Committee Meeting at the Ministry of Health. He made remarks at the press conference.
Noting that it had been 6 months since the pandemic started, Koca said, "As of today, there are 8 million 174 people diagnosed with COVID-19. Number of deaths has reached 443.068."
Pointing out that the world had not triumph over the COVID-19 yet, Koca continued, "There is no effective drug or vaccine against COVID-19 yet. This requires us to be vigilant, careful and intervene immediately, if necessary."
"We can see the light at the end of the tunnel but there is still some way to go"
Noting that he tried to warn people against the risks in his every message, Koca added, "I reiterated many times that normalization was not going back to way things were. I called the new normal "controlled social life." We are aware of the necessities of social life. We asked the elderly and the youngsters to stay home. They did this sacrifice to protect not only themselves but the whole society. Young and old alike wore masks and practices social distancing."
Underlining that the success was made possible by the selfless efforts of health workers, a robust healthcare infrastructure and the support of the people, Koca said, "We can see the light at the end of the tunnel but there is still some way to go. Normalization is a must so that we can keep up an economically and socially sustainable fight. If we take informed, steady and decisive steps, we will reach the light safe and sound."
"Duration of stay in intensive care dropped"
Saying that the coronavirus was still on the go but the disease was contained, Koca added, "We do not have any evidence indicating that the severity of the virus had dropped but this is not the case for cases. By the end of March, we had around 1500 new cases a day, half of which developed pneumonia and required intensive care. Now, only 9.4% of new cases develop pneumonia. Again, in the beginning, patients would stay in hospitals for over 20 days, which is now down to 2.9 days. The duration of stay in intensive care has decreased from 18.9 days to 2.7 days. Less patients require intubation and ventilation. The number of days on ventilation has increased from 1 day to 2.6 days. The mortality rate of intubated patients has decreased considerably."
Adding that 91.2 of deaths were people in the risk group, Koca said, "71.70% of deaths were people over the age of 60 with at least one underlying condition while 4.26% of deaths were people under the age of 60 without any underlying condition.
The death-to-case ratio is the highest in the province of Gümüşhane with 12.4%. This ratio is the lowest in the province of Kilis with 0.33%."
"We know COVID-19 better now"
Noting that provincial health boards were taking measures according to the situation in their respective provinces, Koca continued, "We know COVID-19 better now. It is safe to say that we are more equipped and experienced in response, diagnosis and treatment. We are trying to do our part to the best of our abilities. I am sure that you can see it."
Pointing out that he was sure that any person loving his country, relatives, neighbors, colleagues, friends and family would do his best to protect their health, Koca stressed that better days were soon to come.
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