Istanbul’s coronavirus outbreak is ‘under control,’ claims health minister

Apr 24, 2020

As Turkey’s number of coronavirus cases creeped past 100,000, Turkey’s health minister said Friday the capital of Istanbul was “under control.” 

“Turkey’s Wuhan was Istanbul,” Fahrettin Koca said in an interview with the pro-government Sabah newspaper, referencing the Chinese city where the virus first emerged in December. 

On April 8, Wuhan lifted travel restrictions for residents and reopened its borders after 11 weeks in lockdown. 

The Turkish health minister, who said last week the country’s coronavirus infection rate was stabilizing, credited the reportedly slowed rate of infections in Istanbul to contact tracing and early treatment. 

The government was initially reluctant to share the locations of cases in Turkey. Not until early April did Koca confirm about 60% of cases were in Istanbul, Turkey’s biggest city with a population of 16 million.