Turkey Bracing for Fresh COVID-19 Lockdown as Cases Surge
Turkey is on the brink of a new COVID-19 lockdown by the end of next month amid rising infections and shaky official data, insiders reveal.
Professor Warns of Imminent 14-Day Lockdown
Ahmet Saltık, a public health professor at Ankara University, says the government has been downplaying the true scale of the crisis. “The political authorities do not share the facts with the public. This creates a crisis of trust,” he told us. “By the end of September, a 14-day lockdown—which was postponed before—is likely unavoidable.”
Officials are reluctant to disrupt the 1, but the virus is showing no signs of slowing. Saltık claims testing is woefully inadequate, with many provinces reporting infection numbers far higher than the official figures.
Real Numbers Could Be Two to Three Times Higher
Saltık bluntly warned: “The situation has reached terrible dimensions. Cases and deaths should be multiplied by at least two to three times.” Though he didn’t disclose how he reached this estimate, he slammed the lack of transparency. “We cannot obtain data about the epidemic in democratic transparency. This obstructs the fight against COVID-19.”
On Wednesday, Turkey reported 1,178 new cases—the highest daily total since early July—after weeks of figures staying under 1,000.
Curfews and Travel Bans Set to Return
Authorities plan to reintroduce curfews in hotspots where social distancing breaks down, including parts of Istanbul, Ankara, Diyarbakır, Konya, Malatya, Şanlıurfa, Mardin, and Batman, according to Hürriyet.
- Travel between locked-down districts will be barred except for essential reasons.
- Weekend curfews may come back in high-risk provinces.
- Strict checks will increase in streets, public transport, beaches, and leisure spots.
The Interior Ministry has ordered local governors to ramp up enforcement. Defaulters face tougher punishments, including prison terms from two months to a year in serious cases.
Turkey’s COVID fight intensifies as the country prepares for harsher restrictions amid official doubts and growing public frustration.
