Turkey gains time to stem spread of coronavirus: Expert

By Gozde Bayar and Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey has gained time to help stem the coronavirus outbreak and has a chance to "escape lightly" from the disease, according to an expert in infectious diseases.

With Turkey announcing its first two confirmed cases of the virus this week, Dr. Alpay Azap, a member of the Health Ministry’s Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board, told Anadolu Agency that the country did its best to delay entry of the virus.

He said measures had been swiftly taken, including travel restrictions and banning flights to risky areas as well as closing the borders with infected countries.

“Turkey has a highly sufficient hospital infrastructure and experienced and knowledgeable healthcare workers,” Azap said.

He said Turkey, as a country with large, crowded cities and a young population, has a “high potential” for spreading the virus, but added that the risks posed by its young population can be addressed by taking “proper and effective” measures.

“The Health Ministry and scientific institutions and specialist groups have watched the epidemic very closely from the beginning and informed healthcare professionals and the public in light of the changing scientific information on a daily basis.”

Azap stressed that the virus has “mild symptoms” in young people, adding that symptoms such as fever and dry cough usually clear up within 5-7 days.

“It’s impossible to diagnose young patients who didn’t need hospital referrals. However, since they continue their daily lives, these young patients are an important factor in the public spread of the virus,” he said.

Looking ahead to warm weather slowing down the transmission of the virus, Azap said, however, that it is not possible to wipe out the disease.

“As the weather grows warmer, people don’t spend as much time in closed, stuffy places. They ventilate their homes and offices much better, so the possibility of the transmission of respiratory viruses drops,” he said.

He added that the virus will remain alive for a shorter time in warmer weather, which also decreases the chance of its transmission.

- Quest for a vaccine

Azap said that worldwide, there are more than 30 different ongoing efforts to find a coronavirus vaccine.

“Some of these will yield clinical results soon,” he said.

However, he stressed that there may be “serious questions” about the effectiveness of these vaccines, since details of the interaction of the coronavirus with the immune system are unknown.

Information about how effective the vaccines will be is unfortunately unknown, he said, adding the scientific community is a “bit wary” about the results of these vaccine studies.

Azap, an infectious disease specialist, said that with the appearance of the first case in Turkey, the coronavirus committee will continue to gauge the spread of the virus and what needs to be done to keep it as contained as possible.

-Measures against coronavirus

Azap warned that the virus can remain alive for several hours on surfaces contaminated with droplets such as door handles, switches, and computer keyboards.

“The most effective method of protection from the virus is hand hygiene,” he said, advising people to wash their hands regularly with soap and water or use hand sanitizer.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca earlier said: "If we can implement all necessary measures to prevent the virus from propagating, daily life will probably return to normal within two months.”

Koca also urged the public to avoid international travel unless absolutely necessary.

The novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, was first detected in Wuhan, China last December, and has since spread to at least 114 countries.

The global death toll is now nearly 5,000, with over 132,500 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which this declared the outbreak a global pandemic.