Ministry Advisers Warn of ‘Second Wave’ of Outbreak, Call for Random Tests

Taksim, İstanbul (Photo: AA)

As the government prepares to ease some measures for the new coronavirus pandemic, doctors from the Health Ministry's Science Committee say that basic precautions such as social distancing and hand hygiene should be a part of the "new normal" to prevent a second wave of the outbreak.

The average number of daily Covid-19 cases has dropped to below 2,000 over the past week from around 4,000 in mid-April. Earlier this week, the government announced a "normalization schedule," which includes reopening of hair salons and shopping malls, easing partial curfews and lifting travel restrictions for some provinces.

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However, people should still abide by basic hygiene and social distancing rules and refrain from going out as much as possible to prevent a new wave of outbreak, according to the committee members.

"Normalization doesn't mean returning to our old lives but we will have new norms," Prof. Tevfik Özlü told Euronews Turkish service in a video interview on Wednesday (May 6). Although people will not have to be confined to their homes, they will have to continue their lives with precautions until a vaccine and treatment are found, which may happen next year, according to Özlü.

He also said on Twitter that the slight increase in new cases in the first days of the week was due to increased crowds in the streets and grocery stores after a four-day curfew in late April. The country's death toll stands at 3,641 with more than 130,000 cases as of yesterday (May 7).

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Prof. Mehmet Ceyhan, an infectious diseases specialist, also tweeted that "The slogan of the new era is masked and socially distant life." He said that masks would be a part of our daily clothing like shoes and shirts.

Ceyhan also told daily Yeni Şafak on May 4 that mistakes might cause the country to return to the beginning. "We are not even in the middle of the epidemic yet," he said.

While it is plausible to plan to ease measures as daily recoveries are much higher now than new cases, relaxing too much may lead to a new increase in cases, according to the professor.

"In countries such as Japan and Singapore, which reached this point and began to ease measures, cases increased again. Japan had to declare a state of emergency," he warned.

Test numbers are decreasing

As for the decreasing numbers of daily tests, doctors suggested that the criteria for Covid-19 tests should be changed to test and isolate more people. Currently, those who contacted confirmed patients or those who have strong symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath are being tested.

"If we will let people go out, we should find people carrying the virus isolate them much better," Ceyhan told CNN Türk on April 28. "In a period when we plan to lift measures, tests are our biggest guarantee. If we continue conducting tests with these criteria, the number of tests will reduce as the number of cases reduces."

During the peak of the epidemic in mid-April, the average number of daily tests was near 40,000. It has dropped to around 32,000 since April 26.

Prof. Pınar Okyay, a public health specialist, also said that people who don't have any symptoms should be tested. "We should even do random tests," she told Habertürk in an interview on Wednesday. Okyay also warned against a second wave, saying that "We are on thin ice."

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca had said on Monday that they were working with statistical authorities to measure the prevalence of the virus among the people and might introduce additional measures such as setting up test centers in organized industrial areas. (VK)