Turkey Urged by WHO to Upgrade Coronavirus Reporting After Furor
Turkey Urged by WHO to Upgrade Coronavirus Reporting After Furor
(Bloomberg) -- The World Health Organization urged Turkey to report all cases of coronavirus in line with its guidance as a furor erupted over whether the government had understated the latest outbreak.
The country’s official count comprises only the number of patients needing treatment rather than those testing positive. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca admitted this week the government stopped announcing total infections months ago.
WHO Turkey published a statement on Twitter calling on the government to adhere to its guidelines “in order to harmonize data collection and response measures.” It added that Turkey had been among member states consulted on its survey techniques.
Turkey stopped announcing all of its Covid-19 cases at the end of the July and has instead been disclosing only the number of patients who test positive and show symptoms.
The emphasis on patients is justified by the current stage of the pandemic, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said.
The health minister took to Twitter to thank WHO’s Regional Director of Europe Hans Kluge for commending Turkey’s recent testing efforts. Koca didn’t comment on the organization’s advice to upgrade its data collection methods.
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