How Turkey aims to flatten the coronavirus curve

The Turkish Minister of Health, Dr Fahrettin Koca, announced the second death from the coronavirus as the number of infected increased by 93 to 191.

As the number has doubled in the last 24 hours, the Turkish government has taken a range of measures aimed at mitigating the fallout or flattening the curve of infected people, while also allowing the health care system to operate without reaching breaking point as it did in Italy.

Firstly the Turkish presidency announced late last week that schools and universities will be closed, even while the number of cases was still relatively low.

In comparison, the UK only recently announced it would close down its schools even with more than 2,626 cases and more than 104 deaths.

The UK government is now playing catch up as it tries to contain the coronavirus.

In Turkey, the government has also announced that while some sporting activities will go ahead they will be held without spectators.

Over the last two decades, health care coverage in Turkey has been dramatically expanded in Turkey.

By the 2010s, Turkey moved to a universal health system and as a result, today Turkey is better prepared to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

A key feature of the coronavirus is a country’s ability to provide consistent and high-quality healthcare to people in need without them incurring costs as a result.

In light of the impact the coronavirus is having on business there are already signs that the economic fallout, in particular employment and production, could be significant.

The Turkish government therefore announced financial measures to soften the impact called the ‘Economic Stability Shield’, a $15.4 billion stimulus package to protect the economy from a recession.

Earlier in the week, Turkey also announced that its land borders with Greece and Bulgaria would be closed to entry and exit as part of the measures taken to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

The government is also suspending flights from several countries including some of the hardest hit from the coronavirus: Germany, France, Spain, Italy, China, South Korea and Iran.

More broadly Turkey has understood that the worst-case scenario in Italy could also happen in Turkey.

Therefore the country has also shut down cafes, theatres, clubs and even cancelled the Friday prayer and congregational prayers — an extraordinary and unprecedented move in the country's more than 600-year-old history.

The consequences could be drastic in a country where tourism is an important source of revenue and there are already signs that the tourism industry in Turkey, and along with it the rest of the globe, will face a period of uncertainty.