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

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca compared Turkey's largest city to Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in China.
A man walks past closed for prayers Suleymaniye Mosque during the first day of Ramadan and the second of a four-day curfew, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Istanbul, Turkey April 24, 2020. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC20BG9OLAZD
A man walks past Suleymaniye Mosque during the first day of Ramadan and the second of a four-day curfew, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Istanbul, Turkey, April 24, 2020. - REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Al Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East
Al-Monitor Staff

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. 

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