Coronavirus hits districts unevenly in large Turkish provinces

A map released recently by Health Minister Fahrettin Koca shows that the distribution of the coronavirus cases across the country and within provinces highly differ.

The total number of cases has surpassed 38,000, with the death toll exceeding 800, according to the latest data.

Istanbul, Turkey's largest city with a population of around 16 million, accounts for nearly 60 percent of all confirmed cases. İzmir, a province on the Aegean coast, comes second with 1,500 cases, followed by the capital Ankara with 1,000 cases.

The map the health minister unveiled provided the visual presentation for the first time of the breakdown by districts and neighborhoods in the country's three largest provinces and raised some questions about the unevenly distribution of the cases.

Working population

Three districts in Istanbul, namely Bağcılar, Esenler and Bayrampaşa, have the largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases.

"These are working class quarters. These districts have neighborhoods with large laborer population. People who work at factories or other businesses live there…They need to go out and work. That is why I believe these working population spreads the virus," said Professor Pınar Saip, the head of the Istanbul Medical Chamber.

"The population density in those districts are also higher. The larger the density the higher the odds for the virus to be transmitted among," she added.

Those who live in three districts are blue-collar people with low income who cannot self-isolate themselves, according to Dr. Kutbettin Demir, the head of Istanbul Family Practitioners' Association.

"They need to work, and they also tend to have large families which make heeding necessary hygiene rules...