Australia’s Ambassador to Turkey Marc Innes-Brown, who recently tested Covid-19 positive, thanked the Turkish health officials on Tuesday in a Twitter post, praising the country's healthcare infrastructure.
Innes-Brown was admitted to Ankara University Hospital in the Turkish capital after he tested positive.
“I would like to thank Dr. Akyurek and his wonderful team at Ankara University Hospital for their excellent treatment! Turkey has extraordinary health staff and facilities,” he said.
In the picture he attached to the post, the ambassador was seen laying on a hospital bed with a mask on.
Experts believe that Turkey’s medical infrastructure, which has enjoyed considerable investment in the past two decades, as well as the country’s style of governance has helped it tackle the pandemic efficiently.
The Turkish government opened several emergency hospitals during the pandemic, including Basaksehir Cam and Sakura City Hospital with 2,682 beds, and Okmeydani Prof Dr Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital with 600 beds. Two other emergency hospitals that were inaugurated during the pandemic have 1,008 beds each.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously has said that Turkey has successfully got through this process with the number of intensive care unit beds, which neared the total capacity of that in whole Europe, and nearly 1,100,000 health personnel.
Under a presidential decree, the Turkish state guaranteed free treatment to all citizens, who are diagnosed with the new coronavirus, whether they have health insurance or not.
Turkey’s success was also evidenced by the production of domestically made ventilators. Several Turkish sectors came together and produced 100 domestic ventilator machines within a month and they delivered around 5,000 as early as May.
Turkey has also an edge over its neighbours, with more intensive care units than many European countries, including the UK, France, Russia, and China. It has 40 beds per 100,000 people according to Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca. The US has 34.7 ICU beds while Germany is at 29.2 beds.
It has increased its testing capability to levels higher than most countries, coming sixth overall from over 200 virus-hit countries and territories, ahead of countries like France and the UK, which have a higher number of confirmed cases.
The country recorded 15,805 new coronavirus cases and 253 deaths on Tuesday, according to the Health Ministry’s figures. The total number of COVID-19 cases since the outbreak has increased to 2,178,580, while the total death toll caused by the virus rose to 20,388. The total number of recoveries stands at 2,058,437.
