Second peak of coronavirus is possible, warns expert

Turkey may see a second peak of the coronavirus cases if people continue to ignore warnings and avoid necessary precautions, Professor Seçil Özkan from the Health Ministry's Science Board has said.

Özkan's warning came amid a recent spike in the number of daily confirmed COVID-19 cases which alarmed health professionals. The daily cases have been hovering around 1,500 over the past couple of days.

"If we do not care, if we go ahead with wedding plans, if we invite friends over, we may see a second peak of the coronavirus cases," Özkan said.

She recalled that the number of cases dropped to 800-900 but picked up again.

"People should have accepted that this a new normal and that nothing will be the same; there are simple rules to avoid the disease," she said.

Meanwhile, the number of provinces in Turkey that made the use of face masks in public has risen to 44.

Earlier this week, Professor Ateş Kara from the Science Board suggested that if the public ignores anti-virus measures, then fines could be introduced.

"The alarm bells are ringing, but the outlook is not totally bad. That's how we should look at the situation. If the current trend continues, we may need to reconsider the measures," he said.

The number of confirmed cases in Turkey has neared 182,000 with the death toll from COVID-19 surpassing 4,800. More than 153,000 have recovered from the disease to date.

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