The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that it didn't know about Turkey's COVID-19 data, as it also praised the Turkish government's decision to finally release the number of asymptomatic cases.
Dr. Irshad Ali Shaikh, the head of Turkey's WHO Office, said that those asymptomatic are causing the virus to spread all over the world and that Turkey's decision to share the data on them is significant in terms of preventing the spread of the virus.
"The fact that Turkey shares the number of asymptomatic cases is relieving because it's really important in terms of preventing the spread of the pandemic," Shaikh told Deutsche Welle's Turkish service on Dec. 6.
For four months, Turkey only reported daily symptomatic cases, but it has reported all cases since Nov. 25. Historical data for all positive cases and the cumulative total are still not available.
Shaikh said that the numbers are "worrying."
"We are facing worryingly high numbers," he said, adding that the precautions are implemented in a stronger way, giving the Health Ministry's HES code practice as an example.
A HES code is required to enter most of the public areas, including malls, in Turkey.
"When we look at it this way, we can see that the precautions are implemented in a stronger manner. We hope that this prevents the spread of the virus and that the number of cases decreases," Shaikh said.