The real daily coronavirus case number in Turkey is around 60,000, twice the official figure, Turkish Medical Association (TTB) chair Şebnem Korur Fincancı said on Tuesday during a joint press conference with an opposition leader.
Ali Babacan, a former finance minister and current leader of the opposition Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), held a press conference with Fincancı in which they addressed Turkey’s current situation with regards to the pandemic, calling on the government to take urgent action.
“There is perception management [going on] instead of management of the pandemic,” Fincancı said, underlining that the country had failed to cope with the outbreak.
Babacan called on the government to allow the opposition and professional bodies to join efforts to contain the pandemic, reminding that poor governance had led to the draining of contingency reserves vital to supporting businesses in the face of pandemic-related measures.
The official daily COVID-19 deaths have been steadily rising to record numbers in Turkey, reaching 31,219 on Monday with 188 new deaths.