Nearly 3,500 health workers have been infected with the new coronavirus in Turkey and 24 of them have died, said the Medical Association of Turkey (TTB) on Wednesday 22 April.
According to a press release from the TTB, a total of 3,474 healthcare workers were affected by Covid-19, including 1,307 doctors. Twenty-four of them, including 14 doctors, died, the same source said.
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The Covid-19 epidemic has killed more than 2,200 people in Turkey out of more than 95,000 reported cases, nearly half of which were in Istanbul, according to the latest official report published on Tuesday evening.
Mandatory four-day containment
According to the TTB, the majority of infected healthcare workers work in Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey with some 16 million inhabitants. A compulsory four-day confinement will be imposed from Thursday in the 31 largest cities of Turkey to fight against the spread of the new coronavirus.
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Mandatory confinement is already imposed in the 31 main Turkish cities during the weekends but this Thursday being a public holiday in Turkey, the authorities decided to extend the exit ban there as well as Friday. Weekend containment was implemented on April 11 as the Covid-19 disease epidemic accelerated.
Those over 65, the chronically ill and young people under 20 have already been subject to compulsory confinement for several weeks.
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