No genetic deficiencies were detected in a Turkish family that lost nine members in two years to the coronavirus.
The Genç family has pleaded with health authorities to run genetic tests on their members after their members, both old and young, succumbed to the coronavirus between 2020 and 2022. The latest victim was Şenay Genç Yalçınkaya, who died of a severe case in February 2022, despite having three vaccine shots.
Ali Genç, who lost nine relatives, said on Monday that they did not have any genetic anomaly that could have prompted fatal cases. Genetic researchers from Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University in the northern province of Rize, where most family members lived, examined 13 surviving members of the family under risk for chronic illnesses and exhibited coronavirus symptoms.
Genç, who lost three brothers, two sisters-in-law, two nephews, a brother-in-law and a brother-in-law’s son to the coronavirus, said they have been through difficult, painful times and were worried about “more deaths.” “Our anxiety is gone now,” he told reporters.
Türkiye has lost more than 101,000 people to the coronavirus since the first case was reported in March 2020. The number of cases suddenly dropped, except for occasional fluctuations, this year. The latest figures by the Health Ministry for the week of Sept. 5-11 show the number of cases decreased to 22,441 in that period while only 89 people died. Experts attribute the steep decline to the high rate of vaccination and a less severe variant of the coronavirus.
