Round 2 of counter-virus campaign begins in Turkey

It has been almost two months since the coronavirus pandemic hit Turkey, and the country has been one of the most successful in dealing with the disease. The numbers of the infected are high, but the death ratio is one of the lowest, the number of patients in intensive care continues to drop, and the number of the recovered is growing every day.

The children and elderly are now allowed out once a week for four hours, and the lockdowns might be loosened even more in the coming weeks.

There is tentative hope that the crisis is under control, and the visible drop in numbers provides a light at the end of the tunnel.

Yet, we still have to maintain preventative measures, which are getting more difficult every day. People are stuck at home, economic problems are piling up, thousands who live day to day are facing difficulties with cash flow, and it is hard to keep the children home when the weather is nice.

That is why we should motivate ourselves to stay indoors. The pandemic might be slowing down in the country, but if we go back to normal, we might face a second wave.

We have completed the first phase, but we should be cautious in entering the next level.
Turkey has developed unique lockdown rules. There have been partial lockdowns for most of the population and continuous lockdowns for those 65 and older and youngsters under 20.

This method has allowed the wheels of the economy to keep turning while limiting leisurely outings.

Restaurants, bars and small businesses have been closed down, but the production chain did not stop.

This hybrid approach seemed confusing in the beginning, but backed by an efficient health system, it provided good results. Today, Turkey is not only healing, but it is also giving aid to many countries, including health equipment and medical supplies.

In the Western media, the success of Turkey’s struggle has been praised quite frequently over the past few weeks. So in terms of health, Ankara did well.

The "filiation" system has played a big role in this success.

Turkey is the country with the widest filiation capacity. Every single positively tested patient was tracked, and his or her contacts were tested as well. They were all kept in quarantine.

The quarantine is managed like this: Everyone is listed under the quarantine address. The designated state doctor calls once or twice every week to check, and people who should stay in their quarantine zones are tracked through a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) system.

This system worked well. It not only worked for those in contact with the infected but also for those under ongoing street bans. My mother, for example, stepped out of her front door during a curfew and immediately received an SMS saying, "You should go back to your quarantine zone."

All in all, the first phase of counter-virus measures has been completed with a lot of effort.

But we can't say everything is going as planned. The streets are still too crowded, and with the opening of the shopping malls, it is more difficult to maintain social-distancing rules.

On the other hand, a recovery and normalization plan should be put into place like in many other countries.

I believe that the crowds will disappear as soon as people adjust to the new phase. Turkey did well in the first round.

Now the second round begins.