Birkan BULUT
Ankara

Daily Covid-19 cases, which started to rise after the Omicron variant became dominant, have increased more than three times in the last month. According to the data of the Ministry of Health, the number of cases, which was 26 thousand 99 on December 27, increased to 40 thousand 786 on December 31. After the daily number of cases becoming 36 thousand 731 on January 1, the number of daily cases reached 66 thousand 467 on January 5, reaching the highest level ever.

The number of cases, which was between 61 and 68 thousand on January 6 and 10, exceeded 70 thousand for the first time on January 11 and rose to 74 thousand 266. Daily cases gradually increased again after falling to 54 thousand 100 on January 16. On January 25, 76 thousand 341 people tested positive for coronavirus. With the increase in recent days, 77 thousand 434 cases were detected on January 26 and 82 thousand 180 cases on January 27. For the first time since the beginning of the epidemic in Turkey, the number of daily cases exceeded 80 thousand on January 27. Thus, the number of daily cases across the country has increased more than three times in the last month. While the number of people who lost their lives due to Covid-19 was 150 on average in recent months, this number has recently increased to 170-180 range.

While many measures in the combat against the pandemic were lifted, experts warned against the increase in cases and deaths in the last month. Prof.Dr. Esin Davutoğlu Şenol said "The epidemic is not being handled,” while Public Health Specialist Assoc.Dr. Cavit Işık Yavuz also said that many measures have been lifted since July, and that no new measures have been taken against the more widespread variant Omicron.

OMICRON SPREADS BEFORE DELTA IS STOPPED

Pointing out that the weekly case rates have exceeded 600 per 100 thousand people, Public Health Specialist Assoc.Dr. Cavit Işık Yavuz said, “Right now, only those who have symptoms are tested and these rates indicate a high spread. On the other hand, the number of deaths had not fallen below the average of 150 anyway. The number of deaths continued at a plateau level that we did not see in previous periods. Since August, the death toll has exceeded 100,000 people. The number of cases had decreased to 18 thousand at the beginning of last month. But this was not a low number either. At that time, the delta variant could not be stopped, and when Omicron came on, the number of cases reached 180 thousand,” he said.

MEASURES LIFTED, OMICRON IGNORED

We asked Dr. Yavuz about the reasons for the high increase in cases. He said, “First of all, we can say that the Omicron variant has a higher risk of spreading compared to the delta variant. Since we have been loosened the measures since July, we have not introduced new ones against this new variant. Therefore, it is easy to predict that this variant will spread more rapidly in an environment where we are seasonally staying indoors. However, the most important problem is that we have not introduced new measures. Since we did not put on the table both new testing approaches and measures to prevent the spread, the spread continues. The recent slowdown in vaccination continues. When we combine all these, we can say that we were caught in the conditions when we lifted the measures against the Omicron tsunami.”

NUMBERS WILL INCREASE MORE IF MEASURES ARE NOT TAKEN

Yavuz listed what needs to be done against the increase in the number of cases and deaths as follows: “First of all, vaccination should be increased in terms of booster dose. In particular, we need to bring measures such as measures to prevent the spread in the society and new testing approaches to the agenda. If these measures are not taken, we may see figures much higher than today in the coming days.”

“THE EPIDEMIC IS NOT HANDLED, THE NUMBER OF DEATH INCREASES”

The Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology at the Gazi University, Prof.Dr. Esin Davutoğlu Şenol also stated that the number of deaths caused by omicron exceeded the number of deaths in the delta spread. After stating that Turkey is in the midst of an omicron epidemic, Şenol said, “There is an epidemic that affects vulnerable groups in the society, sends them to intensive care and can kill them. Omicron impacts vulnerable groups effectively, increasing the number of deaths, as it causes so many cases. However, the epidemic is not handled,” she said.