Health Ministry's Science Board

Turkey will lift the indoor face mask mandate fully within 10 days, an expert from the Health Ministry's Science Board has said.

"Daily infections decrease day by day, and this is a great achievement [against the coronavirus]," Nurettin Yiyit told İhlas News Agency.

The Health Ministry's Science Board will discuss the latest situation in the COVID-19 pandemic and the virus-related measures, the country's top health official has said.

Speaking at the northwestern province of Bursa, Fahrettin Koca noted that the number of daily infections has declined to 3,200 as of April 17, which marked the lowest level in the past one and a half years.

The worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is over for Turkey, and people should not worry anymore, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said.

The Health Ministry's Science Board, which advises the government on the pandemic, will have an important meeting next week in which members will discuss the use of face masks in schools, Koca told reporters on April 14.

With the number of daily infections continuing to decline, the circular regulating antivirus measures public sector employees and institutions needed to follow in the wake of the pandemic has been revoked.

The presidential decree regarding the cancelation of the circular has been published in the Official Gazette.

The number of patients being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals' intensive care units (ICU) has been declining in Turkey, an expert has said, citing the vaccinations as the main reason for the improvement in the situation.

In line with fewer patients, intensive care occupancy in hospitals has dropped to the lowest level since the start of the pandemic.

The Health Ministry's Science Board, which advises the government on COVID-19, postponed its highly anticipated meeting for a week.

Board members were supposed to discuss on Feb.23 the fight against the pandemic and reconsider anti-virus measures.

"The press release regarding the measures will be issued on March 1," the Health Ministry said.

Turkish officials are considering scrapping obligations to wear protective face masks and social distancing starting March as they expect the pandemic situation to improve by then.

If plans go ahead, people will not be required to have their masks on or observe the social distancing rules in parks and streets. The new regulation will also apply to restaurants' outdoor dining spaces.

The pandemic situation in Turkey appears to have stabilized, an expert has said, however, warning that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 still poses risks, particularly to the unvaccinated.

The recent increase in coronavirus cases Turkey has witnessed is due to this strain, said Afşin Kayıpmaz from the Health Ministry's Science Board.

Turkey's Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has urged people to get Turkovac shots, the locally developed vaccine against COVICD-19, saying that it is already available in all 81 provinces of the county.

In a never-before-seen incident, the Turkish Basketball League hosted a match between two giants, Anadolu Efes and Galatasaray, despite knowing that some of the players of Galatasaray had tested positive for COVID-19.