Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has announced that 60 Turkish nationals are being kept under observation at field hospitals set up near border gates with Iran, which recently announced increasing numbers of coronavirus infections, the T24 news website reported on Thursday.
Speaking to journalists after a visit to one of the hospitals in the Doğubeyazıt district of Ağrı province, Koca said 18 other people who have persistent coughs or sore throats have been referred to hospitals for observation.
“I would like to underline that none of them has a fever higher than 38 degrees. We just want to be prudent and closely follow their situation,” he said.
The minister went on to say that 10 others who were found to recently have been to the cities of Masshad or Qom have been placed in special units.
This week Turkey evacuated 132 of its citizens by air from Iran, putting them under quarantine in two Ankara hospitals.
Although the Turkish government announced the closure of its border with Iran over the weekend, citizens who want to return by land are being observed for 14 days in field hospitals along the border, according to the report.