Turkey: Over 32,000 people going home after quarantine

By Orhan Onur Gemici

ANKARA (AA) – Nearly 33,000 people in Turkey have been released after spending a two-week quarantine in student dormitories, said the country's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) on Friday.

In a statement, AFAD said due to the coronavirus outbreak, 56,293 people were quarantined, most of them brought home from abroad, in all but four of Turkey’s 81 provinces.

It said 32,763 of them have completed their 14-day quarantine period and were released after their test results for COVID-19 came negative.

“1,977 employees of AFAD helped people who stayed in 144 dormitories of the country's Higher Education Credit and Hostels Institution during the quarantine and evacuation procedures,” it added.

University students and needy people were sent to their homes for free under AFAD coordination.

AFAD also said it supports the country's Vefa Social Support Group with nearly 1,100 staffers and 436 vehicles.

“As part of its assistance to the Vefa Social Support Group, AFAD spent over 61 million Turkish liras [$8.7 million] for senior citizens age 65 and over, and also the people who have a chronic disease,” it said.

After Turkey last month declared a partial curfew for people 65 and over and those with chronic diseases, the Interior Ministry has set up the Vefa group to help those in need, particularly who live alone or with chronic ailments.

The Vefa Social Support Group has reached more than 1.5 million senior citizens to meet their needs under the lockdown.

Turkey on Thursday confirmed 115 more fatalities from the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 2,491.

The total number of registered coronavirus cases surged to 101,790, as 3,116 more people tested positive for the virus, the Health Ministry said.