ISTANBUL, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Experts have hailed Turkey's aggressive measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus as the country has gone into lockdown with mass quarantine and closures.
On Monday, the interior ministry ordered a nationwide closure of almost all public places, including cafes, cinemas, gyms and wedding halls, a day after all bars and nightclubs were closed. Schools and universities are also shut down.
The streets of large cities have since remained relatively empty, including Istanbul, Turkey's most populated city of over 15 million and economic-hub of the country.
"Extraordinary events need extraordinary measures. This is what Turkey is doing now," Altay Atli, an Asia-Pacific expert and academic at Istanbul's Koc University, told Xinhua.
Turkey and other countries affected by the coronavirus have to look at the Chinese experience in this field and learn from it on how to combat this outbreak "which will have an economic and social aftershock for many years to come," Atli noted.
"China is a pioneer regarding this new virus. Their experience is essential in learning how to manage the crisis and look forward," he said, insisting that international cooperation is a must to save lives in this unprecedented crisis.
Experts warned that the critical thing right now is not how many people are infected with coronavirus but how many more they will infect.
"This virus is highly contagious. If it is not contained, it could infect half of the global population of the world in 40 days," Mehmet Ceyhan, a virologist, said on CNNTurk broadcaster.
"China has declared a curfew to prevent the spread of the virus and it worked. Other countries such as Italy have been slow in reacting and are now suffering," he added.
Ceyhan also urged Turkish health officials not to only test those who have returned from a foreign country but all suspected cases showing signs of sickness.
"It's a global thing ... We have to take drastic measures," the Turkish doctor said.
Over the weekend, thousands of people returning from Umrah pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia were kept in quarantine while return flights from Europe ended on Sunday.
Turkey also closed its borders and halted most international flights but struggles to anticipate the coronavirus outbreak that threatens the world.
Authorities repeatedly warn the public to not travel abroad and if they do so, to impose self-isolation for 14 days.
After remaining silent for a week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that coronavirus was hitting Turkey just as it was recovering from a 2018 lira crisis.
Turkey confirmed its first death related to the coronavirus on Tuesday and a doubling of its confirmed cases in one day to 98 after it ramped up measures to combat the spread of the virus.
"It is not easy to keep all the wheels of the economy turning while battling coronavirus," Erdogan said following a meeting with ministers, bankers and business leaders over the pandemic.
The Turkish leader insisted that swift and drastic measures are a must to save lives and urged "patience" of his citizens.
He also announced a series of economic measures to counter coronavirus' impact, such as supporting the flag carrier Turkish Airlines and exporters, and reducing taxes through a stimulus package worth 100 billion liras (15.4 billion U.S. dollars).
Turkey's economy is slowly recovering from a currency crisis in 2018 which has crippled businesses and workers by high inflation, and the coronavirus outbreak is adding stress to the recovery process, according to observers.
Turkey's central bank cut its key interest rate by 100 basis points on Thursday at an earlier-than-scheduled meeting and took steps to support volatile financial markets amid a decline of the national currency against the U.S dollar and euro.
Mass events and prayers, as well as vocational training programs will also be postponed and digital means will be used for essential meetings.
Alpay Azap, a member of the Health Ministry's Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board, told reporters that doctors suggest the use of the masks if one's immune system is weak or is in an at-risk group for the outbreak.
