Tevfik Özlü

The lethality rate of COVID is lower than the flu as the virus has mutated and caused only a milder illness, a member of the Coronavirus Science board has said.

Despite a recent surge in COVID-19 cases in Türkiye, some experts do not think reintroducing lockdowns to bring the pandemic under control would be necessary.

There appears to be a new wave in COVID-19, and the number of cases is probably hovering above 50,000, said Professor Levent Akın from Hacettepe University in Ankara.

The coronavirus pandemic is not totally over, but risks of infections and deaths have reduced, a prominent Turkish physician said on April 12.

"The pandemic is not over yet. But we are at the end of the tunnel," said Tevfik Özlü, a professor from the Health Ministry's Coronavirus Science Board.

This winter will be a difficult period in the fight against COVID-19 due to increased mobility and complacent behavior shown, particularly by young people toward vaccination and anti-virus rules, an expert has warned.

Turkey may see a surge in COVID-19 cases in the months to come due to the different virus variants found in more than 20 provinces, experts have warned, urging the public to remain vigilant and exercise caution.

Talks are underway to increase the amount of COVID-19 vaccines to be delivered to Turkey, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said, adding that the country is also looking at alternatives to secure injections.

Turkey has already signed a deal to buy at least 50 million doses of an experimental vaccine being developed by China's Sinovac.

The recent spike in the number of daily confirmed COVID-19 cases in Turkey prompted Health Minister Fahrettin Koca to issue yet another warning to the public that the outbreak is far from over.

"The figures [from June 13] made us face the reality that the outbreak remains a serious matter," Koca said on Twitter on June 14.

Istanbul, Turkey's most populous province with nearly 16 million residents, may still have a long way ahead before risks from the coronavirus disappear as at least 67 percent of its population should develop immunity against the disease, according to experts.

As some countries are preparing to ease curbs that had been introduced to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, people in Turkey are seeking an answer to the question as to when life in the nation could start to return to normal.