Turkey’s health minister said Monday that the country isusing a drug sent from China on patients suffering from the novel coronavirus.
“From this morning we have brought a special drug usedin China which is claimed to have resulted in improvements in intensive carepatients, cutting their time in care from 11-12 days to four days,”Fahrettin Koca told reporters.
He did not give more information on the drug but theanti-malarial drug chloroquine has recently been used to treat coronaviruspatients in China as well as France.
Some researchers have said chloroquine shows great promise,though scientists have agreed that only more trials would determine if itreally works and is safe.
According to figures released late Sunday, Turkey hasofficially recorded 1,236 coronavirus cases and 30 deaths.
Koca said 50,000 rapid detection kits had arrived from Chinaon Monday and had begun to be used, with 300,000 expected by Thursday.
The minister added that the Chinese government agreed withTurkey to share information on the novel coronavirus as the two countries stepup cooperation to fight against the virus.
While Koca did not detail where the positive cases were inTurkey, he said the virus had spread across the country.
He did say there were fewer than 10 cases in Turkey’s Vanprovince, which borders badly-hit Iran.
He also said some health workers had caught the coronavirus,without giving specific figures.
A further 32,000 health workers would be employed during thecrisis, he told a press conference in Ankara.
Koca also said that face masks produced in Turkey “willnot be exported” as the country was in need.
There had been speculation Koca might announce a state ofemergency, but he urged Turks to “announce their own state ofemergency” as he insisted citizens adhere to measures already announced byAnkara.
Turkish authorities have ordered those aged 65 and above andthose with chronic illnesses to stay at home, while most public spaces havebeen temporarily shut.