Amid pandemic, medical groups question Turkey’s weekend curfew approach
Health workers’ advocates say precautions in Turkey may not be sufficient to contain the coronavirus and safeguard workers as the country grapples with the fast-spreading pandemic.
ISTANBUL — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced April 13 that another round of weekend curfews will be imposed on Turkey’s largest cities to help stem the spread of the coronavirus. Yet medical groups are questioning the efficiency of state efforts to contain the fast-growing COVID-19 pandemic and safeguard workers throughout the country.
To date, the Turkish government has ordered the temporary closure of restaurants, cafes and bars, restricted foreign and domestic travel while imposing relatively strict curfews on senior citizens and on people under 20 years of age who are not working.
While the measures are helpful in limiting new infections, many Turkish workers continue traveling to and from job sites on weekdays, posing risks to the employees, said Fadime Kavak, Sisli branch co-chair of the Trade Union of Employees in Public Health and Social Services.
Kavak, referring to compensation payments that would be avoided by keeping the workdays curfew-free, told Al-Monitor, “The reason for the weekend curfews is very obvious, they won’t have to put workers on paid leave.”
