ANKARA: Turkey could order the public to stay at home if coronavirus infections continue to spread, the government said on Thursday as it clamped down further on medical equipment leaving the country.
The government announced such a measure for people older than 65 over the weekend, but not for the general public as some other countries have done.
Istanbul’s mayor urged national authorities to do so on Thursday, saying nearly a million people were still using public transportation in the country’s largest city.
The highly contagious respiratory disease has killed 59 in Turkey after cases surged in two weeks to 2,433.
“Complete social isolation is always on our agenda,” Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on AHaber TV. Asked whether a complete curfew would be announced, he said: “If we cannot prevent the epidemic with these measures, we can of course take the highest measure.”
To contain the virus, Ankara has closed schools, cafes and bars, banned mass prayers, and suspended sports matches and flights. President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey, which has a population of about 83 million, would overcome the coronavirus outbreak in two to three weeks.
However, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu called on the government to impose a general stay-at-home order, at least in his city if it was not possible nationwide.
“We are in the most critical phase of the outbreak,” he said on Twitter. “If the necessary steps aren’t taken today, it is evident there will be disappointment in the future.”
Separately on Thursday, the government decreed that companies now need permission from authorities to export medical tools used for respiratory support, given rising domestic demand.
The rule covers the export ventilators and related gear, oxygen concentrators, intubation tubes and intensive care monitors, and other medical equipment. Ankara previously said it would stop exporting locally made face masks.
Turkey’s Higher Education Council said there would be no face-to-face classes in the spring term, distance learning would continue and university exams would be postponed to July 25-26.
Separately the central government said all municipality meetings in April, May and June, should be postponed except under extraordinary circumstances.
Turkey could impose stay-at-home order if coronavirus outbreak worsens
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Turkey could impose stay-at-home order if coronavirus outbreak worsens
- The highly contagious respiratory disease has killed 59 in Turkey after cases surged in two weeks to 2,433
Yemen’s STC leader Al-Zubaidi has fled to unknown location, did not board plane to Riyadh: Coalition
Yemen’s STC leader Al-Zubaidi has fled to unknown location, did not board plane to Riyadh: Coalition
RIYADH: Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, the leader of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council, has fled to an unknown location and did not board a plane to the Saudi capital Riyadh, where talks with other southern-based factions are set to take place, the coalition to support the legitimate government of Yemen said.
Saudi Arabia offered to mediate between the factions to resolve tensions in the south of the country and both Al-Zubaidi and Yemen’s presidential council leader Rashad Al-Alimi agreed to attend.
A large delegation of STC members did board the flight to Riyadh, the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen said early on Wednesday.
Al-Zubaidi was due to arrive in the Kingdom on Tuesday but during a 3-hour flight delay, the coalition said that “unjustified field movements” were observed in Aden.
The coalition said it had been provided with information that Al-Zubaidi has moved a large number of forces toward Dhala.
Last week, the coalition carried a out a “limited” airstrike targeting two shipments of smuggled weapons and other military hardware into Mukalla in southern Yemen.
It said the two vessels entered the port without authorization from either the Yemeni government or the coalition, prompting the port’s closure.
The large quantity of “weapons and combat vehicles to support the Southern Transitional Council forces in the eastern governorates of Yemen” aimed to fuel the conflict, the coalition said.
More to follow...
