RE: No Turkey this summer30 Apr 2020 21:36
NewsTurkeyApril 30 2020 14:18:00
Turkey mulls gradual reopening starting from June ANKARA
The Turkish government is drawing a substantial road map for a gradual normalization and to ease measures taken to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, with preparations to reopen the country by June in a step-by-step long-term approach.
With Turkey beginning to observe a fall in the number of new infected cases, as suggested by Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, an intergovernmental work under the leadership of Vice President Fuat Oktay is being carried out to plan the phases of the reopening of the country in line with the recommendations of the Science Board.
“Some opinions were received from the Science Board on which measures the normalization will materialize. These opinions will be discussed at related institutions before being announced,” Koca told reporters on late April 29. He emphasized that the normalization program will be publicized in accordance with the course of the pandemic by enduring social distancing measures in May.
Turkey has started to impose measures after it spotted its first COVID-19 case on March 11 which were followed with more restrictions, including weekend curfews, curfew for elderly and youngsters, intercity travels and so on. Mosques, schools, malls, restaurants, cafes and barber shops are closed, with constant calls being made for people to abide by social distancing rules.
Impacts of the measures will be observed in May
According to sources, the normalization process will be based on four phases and some parts of it are expected to be announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the next cabinet meeting. The first phase throughout May will be a sort of preparatory period for observing the impacts of the measures on the pace of the spread of outbreak.
Weekend curfews will continue in May, as Erdogan said earlier, with plans to include May 19 national holiday to a four-day lockdown starting from May 16 as well as Eid al-Fitr between May 23 and May 27, which follows the holy month of Ramadan.
Malls would reopen in mid-May on the condition that the principles of the social distancing will be fully implemented by all the shops and that the playgrounds and the food courts will remain to be closed.
Allowing the elderly people to go out of their houses for a few hours during the weekend curfews is also an issue being discussed at the Science Board, Koca said, although there is still no agreement on it.
Gradual reopening by June
The government’s plan it to activate the second phase by the end of Eid al-Fitr and in the early days of June until September. Turkish Airlines is expected to begin its operations with limited foreign flights by May 28 and intercity travel ban would be lifted in some provinces in order to boost the domestic tourism, which will play an important role in re-energizing the Turkish economy in the absence of foreign tourists. Hotels and resorts would start to