Pandemic and Politics

Turkey’s Moment of Truth: Over 62,000 Covid Cases In a Single Day

After months of incompetent handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Turkey’s government faces a brutal reckoning: 62,797 cases in a single day.

Abdullah Ayasun
6 min readApr 15, 2021

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Passengers try to keep social distancing at a subway in Turkey. (Photo Credit: EPA)

After months of fumble approach against a no-nonsense enemy, Turkey’s record of nearly 63,000 Covid-19 cases in a single day reveals the true scope of a national disaster long in the making.

On Wednesday, the public, skeptical about the government’s official statistics for a long time, was rattled to know the depth of the health crisis across the nation, while access to mass vaccination remains an ongoing matter of political controversy. The lumbering efforts for a nationwide vaccination and the government’s botched handling of the entire pandemic were precursors to Wednesday’s wrenching numbers. Turkey, needless to say, is not alone in this tragedy.

How the countries are schooled by the overwhelming impact of the global pandemic boils down to a similar conclusion around the world: combatting the coronavirus is a serious business and any government or country, which foolishly overlooks the warnings of the scientists and health experts, is unsparingly punished by it. This trial and error…

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Abdullah Ayasun
Abdullah Ayasun

Written by Abdullah Ayasun

Boston-based journalist and writer. Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. On art, culture, politics and everything in between. X: @abyasun

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