Questions surround Turkey’s COVID strategy as cases surge

After reopening some business, the country marked a two-month high with 14,000 cases on Tuesday.

Ankara, Turkey – A year on from the first recorded case of COVID-19, Turkey is seeing a resurgence in infections as it begins to take tentative steps towards normalisation. Last week, businesses such as cafés and restaurants were able to fully open for the first time since they were closed at the start of December when daily cases of about 30,000 saw the government impose evening and weekend lockdowns. The preventive measures saw the number of cases per day fall to some 6,000 in mid-January, but the figure has since risen with the arrival of warmer weather and virus mutations, reaching nearly 14,000 late on Tuesday, a two-month high.