ANTALYA- SES Antalya Branch Co-chair Şükran İçöz, who stated that the information about the pandemic is not shared transparently, raised the demand that the health workers should be given individual protective equipments and should be tested by health screenings continuously.
Şükran İçöz, Coordinator of the Trade Union of Employees in Public Health and Social Services (SES) Antalya Branch shared the information that the positive coronavirus (COVID-19) cases are examined at the Training and Research Hospital, Akdeniz University and Medstar Hospital, but there is no quarantine hospital.
'INFORMATION IS HIDDEN'
İçöz stated that as there are limited number of masks and disinfection materials in the hospitals and in all the health institutions, there are also many problems rearding the supply of these. Stating that Turkish MEdical Association's (TTB) suggestions should be taken into consideration and included in the handling of this process, İçöz emphasized that there is not enough data flow through Antalya city. Stating that they had a meeting with the Provincial Health Directorate regarding the "19 emergency questions" of TTB, but they did not receive any response İçöz said, "We expect the government to share the data transparently and to introduce scientific explanations regarding the pandemic. They are constantly hiding the information. We and the society want a transparent flow of data. Our citizens often need to wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. They don't need to wear masks and gloves. They can donate thes eprotective materials to healthcare institutions"
'PERSONAL EQUIPMENT SHOULD BE PROVIDED'
Reminding that the people to be given priority of protection in the fight against the pandemic are healthcare workers, İçöz raised the demand to provide healthcare workers with all necessary personal protective equipment (gloves, surgical mask-N95 or FFP2 during contact with the liquid, protective-liquid-proof gowns, protective glasses and protective overalls). Adding that there is no test for healthcare workers, İçöz stated that all healthcare workers should be tested and screened periodically in this process. Recalling that the state should increase protective measures, İçöz emphasized the importance of massive tests to be applied to everybody who are coronavirus suspects.