Health Minister: Coronavirus Reached Our Doorstep

Source and photo: AA

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Turkey has yet to see any confirmed cases of coronavirus, but it reached the country's doorstep, Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca said today (February 26). 

On flights bringing back citizens of Turkey from Iran, Koca told the state-run Anadolu Agency in the capital Ankara that "We can easily say that none of our passengers' results are positive [for coronavirus], they are all negative."

Some 132 citizens arrived in Ankara yesterday after being evacuated from Iran, where 15 deaths from the coronavirus have been confirmed.

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The reason for altering plans to land the plane in Istanbul is there is an experienced team in Ankara, the minister said.

Koca said that passengers coming to Turkey from Iran's Mashhad and Qom cities, the epicenter of the virus, are in quarantine to prevent the coronavirus from spreading inside the country.

Turkey prevented a total of 28 citizens of Iran, who showed symptoms of having caught on the virus and had been in Qom, from entering the country, he added.

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''Our main aim is to prevent the spread of the disease in Turkey,'' he said.

"The epicenter of the virus is China. But now new sources have emerged, such as Iran," he said, adding that Turkey has set up field hospitals at its border with Iran.

Is Turkey hiding cases?

Koca denied Turkey was hiding cases saying it is difficult to do that with the World Health Organization (WHO) monitoring the situation.

There is a widely-held belief, including by the WHO and Turkey's scientific committee, that the outbreak will recede as the temperatures rise, he added.

No antiviral drug specific for coronavirus has been found yet, he added.

Although there has been some progress in vaccine development, it could take time to put the vaccine into effect, he noted.

Iran has reported 139 confirmed cases of coronavirus so far, and Turkey has closed its border gates, stopped railways crossings, and suspended most flight service, except Turkish passengers returning from Tehran.

Travel warning from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

With cases of coronavirus rising worldwide, Turkey has advised its citizens against traveling to Iraq and Italy unless absolutely necessary.

In two separate statements, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today that it "strongly advised" the public not to visit infected areas in Iraq and Italy.

Ankara has already suspended rail and air services to Iran, where the outbreak has claimed 19 lives so far. Border crossings between the two countries also remain closed.

While Iraq has diagnosed five cases as yet, some 322 cases have been reported in Italy with at least 11 deaths thus far, according to its Health Ministry.

The novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has sounded global alarm, with China reporting more than 2,700 deaths from the outbreak, and health experts grappling to find a cure.

Outside mainland China, the coronavirus has spread to more than 30 countries, including the US, UK, Singapore, France, Russia, Spain and India.

The WHO has declared the outbreak an international health emergency. (AÖ/DB/VK)