Although the number of patients hospitalized for the COIVD-19 is decreasing, specialists advise the public not to drop their guard in the face of the deadly infection.
Now in its third year since its first reported case, Turkey appears to be leaving the worst of the coronavirus pandemic behind.
The skyrocketing number of cases last month had renewed fears but all of a sudden, the daily number of cases plummeted to as low as 25,000 from around 100,000. This trend seems to be linked to the peak theory that says cases need to reach the highest possible point before they begin to decline. In addition, Turkey is witnessing a drop in the number of people hospitalized or in critical care.
Professor Hakan Oğuztürk, an emergency medicine expert at Ankara City Hospital in the Turkish capital, says they are seeing “positive” developments at hospitals as the drop in cases is reflected in their workload. “The rate of hospitalizations, admissions to intensive care clearly decreased,” he says.
Apart from the impact of vaccination and restrictions, this downward trend is mainly linked to omicron, a less lethal variant of the coronavirus, especially for otherwise healthy people. It is more infectious than earlier variants but for many people outside the risk groups, it is not nearly as fatal as severe influenza.
Oğuztürk attributes the decline in cases primarily to the vaccination drive and stressed that both regular doses and booster shots are important in avoiding the devastating effects of the coronavirus.
“Eventually, we will see fewer and fewer cases day by day when people stick to proper vaccination,” he told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Wednesday. He noted that the number of people with booster shots was still low compared to people with two doses of vaccine, urging people who were inoculated with a second dose more than three months ago to get their booster shots.
He said COVID-19 wards were not as full as they were in the past and more hospitals were converting them into wards for patients with other illnesses. Oğuztürk added that the summer would be a better time in terms of the pandemic’s impact.
Turkey on Tuesday reported 24,614 new cases and 115 deaths, while the treatment and quarantine process ended for another 30,553 people. Over 93% of the population aged 18 and above has received the first dose of vaccination while the rate of people with two doses stands above 85%.
