Istanbul, Nov 30, : Turkey is on alert to intensify its efforts against the new Covid variant Omicron according to Turkish health experts, Xinhua. Nurettin Yiyit is a member the Turkish Health Ministry’s Scientific Committee and chief physician at Istanbul’s Cam and Sakura cities hospitals.
He said Monday that Omicron has more spike protein mutations than ever before.Some of these are alarming because of their potential impact on the course and spread of the pandemic.
Yiyit stated that “That’s why it’s so important to monitor the strain so closely in order to be able take new and effective steps in time.”
He said, “We need to see if it spreads quickly, if it is fatal, and, most importantly, if Covid vaccines work or not.”
Turkey has closed its borders for passengers from Botswana and South Africa, Mozambique Mozambique Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Zimbabwe to prevent Omicron, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Kuca announced Friday.
Yiyit stated that if the virus is found in Turkey, we will pay great attention to the contact tracing and declaration of new quarantine times.
According to Xinhua news agency, he believes that the information from vaccine-producing companies regarding the effectiveness of their jabs against this variant is essential for the fight against the pandemic.
He stated that “for the moment, there isn’t much we can do other than to impose travel restrictions, wear masks, and observe the social distancing rules.”
Koca also mentioned that Turkey had been closely monitoring the development and taking precautions as necessary.
Koca stated on Twitter that Omicron is not yet found and that Delta is the most common strain of Turkey.
Mehmet Ceyhan (head of the Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine in Ankara) urged authorities to increase travel restrictions because the variant is spreading faster that expected.
Ceyhan, speaking to the Haberturk broadcaster, warned that the strain has already spread across many countries, including Australia and some European countries.
He suggested that Turkey’s entry and exit to Turkey should be controlled.
Ceyhan also stated that it was important to avoid gatherings at work by allowing for flexible working hours.
“In the current wave of the pandemic, we have not been in a position to reduce the daily cases below 20,000 over the last four months.If the Omicron starts spreading, we would be in a difficult spot,” he tweeted.
According to the Health Ministry’s latest data, the inoculation rate for people receiving two vaccine doses in Turkey is 60.6 percent.Turkey has an estimated population of 83 millions.
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