Is Marmaris COVID-19 Free? Part 2
Our resort of Marmaris has remained COVID-19 free for most part of the summer. The Minister of Health Dr. Fahrettin Koca’s Tweet on August 2 said that the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic has reached the coast. He asked to be very careful on holiday. It is true in light of the Kurban Bayramı (Sacrifice Feast) and long awaited summer holidays when thousands of people hit the coast early August.
Dr. Fahrettin Koca @drfahrettinkoca
August 2 Tweet: ‘Birinci dalga sahillere indi. Tatilde dikkatli olalım.’
In the span of a week and a half, the number of coronavirus cases in the coastal towns have increased, yet officials are saying this is still the first wave of the pandemic.
This virus is highly contagious — and how easily people can infect others without symptoms, thus the health officials are giving warnings that the whole situation could get even worse. The social media is full with images of packed beaches in Marmaris over the Kurban Bayramı (Sacrifice Feast) holiday week.
Almost 900 Turkish nationals have been infected with Covid-19 daily, as the official statistics indicate. With spikes in new cases, doctors are worried about an increased number of hospitalizations or deaths in the coming weeks.
It’s unclear how many active coronavirus cases there are in Marmaris now as testing continues. This period is also well known to epidemiologists for ‘summer flu’ cases, which has similar symptoms.
The health officials in the International Dalaman airport are working around the clock to stop the spread of Covid-19. Any passengers arriving with any symptoms including fever are being stopped and hospitalized in local clinics, preventing them from any further contact.