Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- From 2 September 2020 in Turkey, about 1.6 thousand new cases of the disease are recorded daily, which is the largest daily increase in the last 2 months.

As a result, by 8 September 2020, the total number of infected exceeded 280,000, and the death toll reached 6,800.

The situation is further exacerbated by the rise in the number of infections among healthcare workers, who now account for 11% of cases in Turkey.

The main areas of epidemiological risk remain the large cities of Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, where the deteriorating situation has again exacerbated differences between the local authorities and the central government.

Thus, the mayors of the cities accused the Turkish leadership of concealing the real scale of the epidemic. According to them, "it is this practice that has led to the destabilization of the situation." Similar accusations were also made by the head of the Turkish Medical Association A. Karakoj and former Prime Minister A. Davutoglu.

However, the government itself continues to reject the discrepancy between official statistics and the real state of affairs. At the same time, the head of the Turkish Ministry of Health F.Koja considers the emerging negative trend as the beginning of the second peak of the first wave of coronavirus and associates the deterioration of the situation with non-compliance by citizens with sanitary measures.

In this regard, additional anti-epidemiological standards were adopted urgently, which include:

first, new rules for celebrations. According to these measures, the duration of the wedding ceremony is limited to one hour, with a ban on dancing and serving food. Persons over the age of 65 and under 15 are also not allowed to attend the celebrations, and government officials must be present to monitor compliance with these rules;

second, the tightening of state control over the observance of sanitary measures in places of public catering and trade. A ban on standing in public transport has also been introduced to reduce the risk of infection.

In general, due to a sharp jump in the number of COVID-19 infected in Turkey, the country’s authorities are entering a new phase in the fight against the epidemiological threat. At the same time, the preferred method of maintaining control over the situation remains to increase the vigilance of citizens by tightening sanitary rules.