COVID‐19 in Turkey: An urgent need for the implementation of preparedness and response strategies

摘要

Coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19) is a new and ongoing pandemic, and an alarming public health issue throughout the globe. While first reported in China, COVID‐19 is no longer restricted to that country, and the increasing number of cases and alarming levels of geographical spread raises grave worries about its future direction. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID‐19 outbreak a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” (PHEIC), and, by March 19, 2020, over a 160 countries have reported cases of COVID‐19. More than 209 000 cases have been confirmed globally, with approximately 39% of them in China; more than 8700 people have died worldwide. Importantly, however, some countries have demonstrated the ability to slow or partially limit transmission of the COVID‐19 virus, SARS‐CoV‐.