DM Monitoring
ISTANBUL: The substantial increase in the number of daily new COVID-19 cases in Turkey for the last couple of weeks has prompted authorities to consider adopting new measures and restrictions to curb the further spread of the pandemic.
Conducting more tests, scanning risk groups, such as drivers of public vehicles, waiters, cashiers, and isolating people who are tested positive with a strong enforcement mechanism, are among the items on the upcoming agenda, according to the Health Ministry’s Scientific Committee.
“Loosening coronavirus measures cause cases to rise,” Afsin Emre Kayipmaz, a member of the Scientific Committee, was quoted as saying by CNN Turk on Wednesday.
The daily number of new cases in the country was reported as 1,263 on Tuesday, taking the total number of infections to 251,805. The death toll reached 6,016, with the daily addition of 20.
“If there would be a more notable increase in the number of cases in the upcoming period, a situation may arise that may affect many activities, including the decision to open schools on September 21,” Kayipmaz said.
National Education Minister Ziya Selcuk later in the day announced that the ministry started to grant certificates that define a series of standards to prevent the further spread of the pandemic in schools.
Education institutions have to make necessary arrangements in line with the rules stated in the certificate to be able to be operational, Selcuk said in the capital Ankara at a televised speech.
Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Koca urged citizens on his Twitter account to strictly follow the rules, saying that “believing in the power of science and measures, let’s fight in solidarity with our health army.”
The Interior Ministry, meanwhile, launched its seventh comprehensive inspections since May to monitor compliance with the COVID-19 rules across the country on Wednesday.
