Turks Swarm Streets Hours Before Lockdown Defying Virus Measures

(Bloomberg) --

Thousands of Turks rushed to grocery stores before a hastily announced weekend lockdown in major cities came into effect, raising the risk of a new wave of infections.

The government gave people a two-hour warning late Friday that a two-day lockdown would be enforced in 31 cities including Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, causing them to defy weeks of social distancing measures by flocking to the streets to stock up on food items. Pictures and videos of people queuing outside stores in closely packed lines were posted on social media, with some showing fighting breaking out.

The measure -- in place through April 12 -- came after the country reported 98 new coronavirus fatalities, bringing the death toll from the outbreak to 1,006. Weather forecasts pointing toward a sunny weekend likely played a role in the government’s decision.

There is a “scary possibility of infection” after people swarmed the streets late Friday, said Tevfik Ozlu, a member of Turkey’s Science Board, which advises the government on coronavirus measures. The negative impact of the incident will be seen in “a week to ten days,” he said in a televised interview.

The opposition blamed the government for taking an abrupt decision. “Curfews to combat the pandemic should not be imposed so hastily,” Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu said after the decision. The municipality “was not informed of the sudden 48-hour curfew in Istanbul and was left unsure as to which services will be provided tomorrow. Decisions taken unilaterally only serve to create more panic and confusion.”

Earlier Friday, authorities said the number of confirmed cases rose 11.2% from Thursday to 47,029. The country screened 30,864 people over the past 24 hours and 4,747 tested positive for the virus, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a Twitter post.

This weekend’s lockdown is the most stringent move Turkey has made so far to contain the spread of the disease. While authorities have gradually increased restrictions on people’s mobility since the first case was reported a month ago, they had avoided imposing the kind of strict measures seen in other parts of the world.

The number of total tests administered during the first 32 days of the outbreak reached 307,210, Koca said.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.