Turkish citizens returning from Iran to be quarantined

By Selami Kucukoglu

AGRI, Turkey (AA) - Turkish health minister on Thursday informed the Turkish citizens living in Iran about a 14-day compulsory quarantine period in case they want to return to Turkey.

Fahrettin Koca’s remarks came in eastern Agri province where he was investigating measures against novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 at the Gurbulak-Bazargan customs gate between Turkey and Iran.

Koca urged the Turkish citizens currently living in Iran to refrain from going out especially without wearing a mask and said they also need to ventilate their home.

He said the citizens should pay attention to personal hygiene, wash hands properly and avoid close contacts with other people.

"They should know that we will accept them at the border based on certain conditions, and monitor for 14 days,” Koca added.

Koca noted that Turkey started thermal screening of all passengers coming to the country even before the warnings of the World Health Organization on the issue.

“America is still discussing whether to apply thermal cameras to passengers coming from South Korea. We have been [already] applying it for all passengers for almost a month."

Iran is among over 35 countries, including the U.S., U.K., Singapore, France, Russia, Spain and India, which account for the nearly 80,000 COVID-19 cases confirmed around the world.

The global death toll is nearly 2,800, and China, where the outbreak originated, is the worst-hit with more than 78,000 cases and over 2,700 fatalities.

The WHO has declared the outbreak an international health emergency.

* Writing by Sibel Morrow in Ankara.