ANKARA
The UK variant of the coronavirus has been detected in 17 districts in Turkey, affecting at least 128 people across the country, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.
In a tweet, Koca noted that COVID-19 changes have been largely behind rising case numbers in Europe, reiterating his warning that the public must continue to adhere to the measures virus resistance.
“We need to be vigilant against the dangers of the mutated virus. The number of people who have contracted the virus has risen to 128, and the UK variant of the disease has been detected in 17 areas, ”the health minister said on Twitter on 30 January.
An expert, meanwhile, suggested that the virus variant may be the cause behind a recent increase in COVID-19 cases to around 7,000 daily infections from 5,000.
“We are closely monitoring cases of muta virus disease across the country. We are looking at the issues to determine whether the virus-related strains originated in the UK or South Africa, ”said Professor Mustafa Naci İlhan from the Board of Social Sciences. Ministry of Health.
If the variant of the virus is present in the Tokat region in the Black Sea, it was easy to find in major cities, such as Istanbul and the capital Ankara, İlhan warned.
“We know it now [the virus variant] is in our country. There has been a 30 per cent increase in the number of cases, rising to 7,000 daily infections from the previous 5,000 levels, ”he said.
İlhan suggested, however, that not only the variant of the coronavirus but other factors may have played a recent role in the spike in diseases.
“People may be gathering at weekends during full locks, the public may be working in a more complex way, avoiding basic rules such as foreign faces and social distance, as has been the case. introduce a vaccination program, ”he said.
When the daily virus outbreak arose, the government introduced weekday curfews and full locks on weekends in December 2020. It also restricted the operation of restaurants and cafes to takeaway services and delivery.
Turkey began its inoculation program on January 14, vaccinating the majority of health care professionals and the elderly.
According to data from the Ministry of Health, nearly 2 million people have received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, which was imported from China.