Fahrettin Koca

In a bid t to curb the rising wave of violence targeting health care workers, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has announced a comprehensive action plan aimed at increasing security personnel within hospitals and implementing a cutting-edge preventive system.

During a heartwarming graduation ceremony, students graduating from Hatay Mustafa Kemal University Faculty of Medicine have paid their tributes commemorating doctors and other medical students who lost their lives in the deadly Kahramanmaraş-centered quakes.

Some 86 percent of measles cases in the country have been recorded in Istanbul, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said, reiterating that though the number of cases is increasing, it is not at an epidemic level.

In a bid to detect illegal substances or objects that could endanger the safety of a patient or a doctor, "door security systems" has begun to be installed in hospitals, the Health Ministry has announced.

After the murder of Ekrem Karakaya, a doctor in the central Anatolian province of Konya, the other day, the Union of Healthcare and Social Service Workers (Sağlık-Sen) went on strike across Türkiye on July 7. 

Turkish doctors wearing PPE hold placards reading 'you cannot manage, we are exhausted, we die' during a protest in front of the Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, 15 September 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/TOLGA BOZOGLU

Mandatory use of protective face masks is no longer required for millions of students and teachers in Turkey, as the government eased measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in a historic move on April 26.

The Health Ministry's Science Board will discuss the latest situation in the COVID-19 pandemic and the virus-related measures, the country's top health official has said.

Speaking at the northwestern province of Bursa, Fahrettin Koca noted that the number of daily infections has declined to 3,200 as of April 17, which marked the lowest level in the past one and a half years.

The pandemic situation in Turkey appears to have stabilized, an expert has said, however, warning that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 still poses risks, particularly to the unvaccinated.

The recent increase in coronavirus cases Turkey has witnessed is due to this strain, said Afşin Kayıpmaz from the Health Ministry's Science Board.

No schools are currently suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Turkey's Education Minister Mahmut Özer has said, as the number of daily cases has been lingering around 95,000 across the country.