Turkey’s COVID-19 cases ‘worrying,’ threatening healthcare system

Turkey is recording  "worrying’’ COVID-19 infection figures and the country’s health system may be faced with a collapse sparked by the spike in cases, the organisation's top Turkey official said on Sunday.

But Turkey's decision to share data on asymptomatic cases is "significant in terms of stemming the spread" of the coronavirus, WHO Turkey office head Dr. Irshad Ali Shaikh told Deutsche Welle Turkish.

Turkey began including asymptomatic cases in the total number of COVID-19 infections reported daily on Nov. 25, bringing the figures from around 6,800 to over 28,000, the highest reported by Ankara since the outbreak began in March.

"We are facing worryingly high numbers," Shaikh said, referring to the country’s daily infections that now number over 31,000, while warning of the effects of the soaring figures on the country’s hospitals.

"Despite the fact that the situation of the hospitals in Turkey is not as bad as those in Europe or the United States,’’ Shaikh said, "we may witness the collapse of the health and hospital systems if the numbers continue on this trajectory."

COVID-19 deaths in the country have more than doubled in less than three weeks, while the daily infections, recorded as 31,896 on Saturday, are ranked among the highest numbers recorded in the world.

Shaikh also praised Turkey for implementing stronger measures amid the uptick in infections.

"We hope that this prevents the spread of the virus and a decrease in the number of cases," he said.

Last Month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced a series of measures to prevent the spread COVID-10, including a weekday curfew and total weekend lockdowns.

The country is spending its first weekend in a full lockdown since May.