Turkey on Aug. 19 registered the highest number of daily COVID-19 cases in the last 1.5 months, as the intensive care bed occupancy rate in hospitals reached 64.8 percent, said Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.
At a news conference following a meeting of the Health Ministry’s Coronavirus Science Committee, Koca said 1,303 new cases confirmed in the past day brought the tally to date to 253,108. The death toll reached 6,039 as 23 more people lost their lives, he said.
Of those infected, 7.4 percent are suffering from pneumonia and the number of patients in critical condition rose to 719, according to the data provided by Koca.
“Including COVID-19 and all other diseases, the service bed occupancy rate is 51.3 percent, the intensive care bed occupancy rate is 64.8 percent, and the ventilator occupancy rate is 31.7 percent,” he said.
Koca also said the Health Ministry is about to launch a new system called “telemedicine” that will connect doctors with COVID-19 patients getting treatment at home.
“Those patients who are young or presenting mild symptoms are taking a rest at home, in isolation. We will in the upcoming days launch a new system for our patients who are getting treatment at home. Through a system called ‘telemedicine,’ our doctors will directly talk with their patients,” he said.
Koca was also asked about the government’s plan to reopen schools on Sept. 21. The minister said that the Coronavirus Science Committee is of the opinion that schools should be reopened on this date, adding that distance and hybrid learning systems might also be implemented depending on the course of the pandemic.
“We know that some of the grades need to start the education in some way. Therefore the basic approach is that education kicks off on Sept. 21 in general sense,” Koca said, however adding that if the pandemic takes a different course, different methods other than face-to-face classes might be considered.