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- The country imposed weekday curfews and full lockdowns on weekends last week
DUBAI: Turkey may impose new intercity travel measures to help combat the coronavirus spread, Hurriyet Daily News reported citing experts.
“The 25 percent decline in the number of virus cases in Istanbul is the result of restrictions, but the virus is spearing in other provinces,” Professor Mustafa Naci İlhan from the Health Ministry’s Social Sciences Board said, adding that travel suspensions may help reduce the number of coronavirus cases.
He further said the daily number of confirmed virus infections are stuck at 30,000.
He also said suspending intercity travel will help prevent the virus spread between cities, but if the public creates an awareness, this decision would not be necessary to impose.
“Travel should be banned except for emergencies,” Professor Mehmet Ceyhan, the head of the Infectious Diseases Society, said.
He added that the number of infections in Istanbul declined slightly, but he said that reduction was inadequate, as people are traveling to other provinces in the country.
Intercity mobility restrictions should be imposed, Ceyhan said, because cases may decline in Istanbul and rise elsewhere.
The country imposed weekday curfews and full lockdowns on weekends last week, the report said.
“The impact of the weekend lockdowns will be seen in the next seven to 10 days,” İlhan said.
Almost 38,000 people have violated the curfews and lockdown on weekends between Dec. 1 and Dec. 7 in the country, the Interior Ministry reported.