April 24, 2020 | Coronavirus Ranking of Turkey (click image to see full size)
While governments across the globe struggle to increase their testing capabilities after realizing how widespread the COVID-19 pandemic is, Turkey ranked seventh worldwide in carrying out coronavirus tests
Mavi Boncuk |
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said in March that the U.N. agency had a "simple message” for all countries: “test, test, test!" It was an effort to draw international attention to the importance of testing and detecting COVID-19 cases.
Turkey quickly adopted the WHO policy and began increasing daily test numbers to identify those infected and to stop the spread of the virus.
Statistics on the Health Ministry's database said Turkey significantly increased the number of tests used since late March when there was a daily average of almost 11,500 tests. For the past week, the ministry has been testing more than 30,000 each day.
As the demand for the tests increased, Turkish businesses rushed to produce diagnosis kits shortly after the outbreak, and their efforts bore fruit. Turkey now is self-sufficient in terms of manufacturing its own testing kits. It is able to produce Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests, which are more accurate in diagnosing the virus.
In addition to the PCR tests, Turkey also uses imported rapid testing kits to diagnose the infected, which are less accurate but offer faster results. Health authorities use both kits in tandem to deal with the virus crisis.
To date, Turkey has also provided medical aid to at least 30 countries, including testing kits.
April 24, 2020 | Coronavirus Ranking of Turkey
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