ISTANBUL: Resurgent coronavirus cases in Turkey are fuelling tensions between doctors who say the official figures underplay the scale of the outbreak and politicians who accuse the country’s medical association of undermining efforts to contain it.
More than 1,600 new cases and 60 deaths from COVID-19 are now reported daily, well off peak levels in April but rising steadily, with average numbers of deaths now three times the rates recorded between June and August.
Doctors across Turkey wore black ribbons this week to commemorate colleagues who have died, part of protests which also included a social media campaign with a message for the government: “You can’t manage it; we are exhausted”.
Many doctors question the official COVID-19 numbers, saying that although they don’t have their own independent…