Minister of Health, Dr. Fahrettin Koca, delivered a statement following the Coronavirus Scientific Committee meeting.
Minister Koca noted that they had been publishing maps that show the situation in each province since March, and said, "This map shows us that the number of cases is on the rise everywhere. The risk map tells us that 80% of the population lives in high-risk cities. Right now, that are two factors presenting an obstacle before us. One is that we are very tired and the second one is the new variants of the virus. There are justifiable reasons for this tiredness."
"Variants make things more difficult"
Minister Koca continued, "Variants, which are more infectious, obviously make things more difficulty. Aside from spreading more rapidly, they may also cause more severe disease."
"85% of the new cases are caused by the UK variant"
Koca pointed out that they detected a large number of variants in recent weeks, and said,"85% of the new cases are caused by the UK variant. This new form of the virus spreads faster than its original form. Today, it is most common form of the virus all over the world. There are also other variants detected. The South African variant was detected in 285 people in 11 provinces, and the Brazilian variant in 166 people in 9 provinces. The E484K mutation, which the World Health Organization recommends strict follow-up due to its high contagiousness, was identified in 4820 cases.”
“There is no dramatic increase, but developments are serious"
"The bed occupancy rate is 59% and the intensive care occupancy rate is 67.4% nationwide" said Koca and added, "Healthcare services are still being provided smoothly. If our burden becomes unbearable, like we have seen before, we may have to introduce some arrangements."
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