Istanbul Mayor Calls for Shutdown as Coronavirus Cases Rise
Istanbul Mayor Calls for Shutdown as Coronavirus Cases Rise
(Bloomberg) --
A shutdown of two to three weeks should be implemented in Istanbul as the city accounts for more than 50% of the coronavirus cases in Turkey, Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu said.
Imamoglu, who recently recovered from coronavirus himself, said that the city’s Science Advisory Board is recommending a shutdown followed by a controlled re-opening.
The mayor’s call comes after Turkey reported 3,045 new Covid-19 patients and 93 deaths, both the highest since the end of April. Turkey stopped reporting all of its coronavirus cases in July and has instead been disclosing only the number of “patients” who test positive and show symptoms.
Imamoglu questioned how Istanbul with a higher population than Belgium has much lower coronavirus cases than that country. “Even with the much higher population, if we have three times less cases than they do, then we should inform the rest of the world on how we have accomplished this. But if the numbers are not accurate, I don’t get the point of misleading people.”
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