Turkey is going through a tough period in its fight against the coronavirus outbreak. In recent days, it has started reaching new daily highs since January, while the number of daily fatalities exceeded 70 for the first time in months on Tuesday. Yet, experts point to an apparent drop in hospitalizations which indicates that the infections are now less severe. The number of critically ill patients was only 1,474 on Tuesday while the intensive care unit occupancy rate among adults stands at 66.2%.
Associate professor Ümit Savaşçı from Gülhane Training and Research Hospital in the capital Ankara, says the coronavirus is “leaning more towards seasonal flu mutation. This is good news. We see less patients in need of intensive care, oxygen supply. Apparently, it does not affect the lungs as much as it has been before,” he told Demirören News Agency (DHA) on Wednesday.
The country reported thousands of infections from variants but experts believe that although they spread faster, they mostly lead to mild cases. But this is mostly confined to patients below certain ages. Savaşçı says there may be a rise in the number of cases, especially among senior citizens next month. He said they have not seen any critically ill patients with variants from Brazil, South Africa or other countries and it was not clear yet whether Turkey has its own variant and if it is critical. “What we are seeing now is patients have minor symptoms and generally recover without the necessity of hospitalization. It is safe to say that the virus adapts itself to our life. After all, it dies when its host dies,” he said.
