As Turkey battles coronavirus, President ERDOGAN has announced significant new measures and a curfew has also been imposed on citizens up to the age of 20 on top of the curfew already imposed on those 65 and over. Moreover, quarantine measures were also imposed for 31 cities in Turkey.
On the other hand, upon this new development, the metropolitan municipalities of Istanbul and Ankara announced that unmasked citizens would not be allowed into public transportation and free masks would be distributed.
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem IMAMOGLU announced on his Twitter account that the distribution of the mask would be free. Imamoglu said, "Dear Istanbulites, as of tomorrow, we ask you to board our public transport vehicles with a mask on due to your health safety and the presidential statement. In the first place, we'll be handing out 100 thousand free masks tomorrow. It is our duty to protect you from the epidemic. I wish you healthy and happy days”.
IBB spokesman Murat ONGUN also shared following message on his Twitter account: "Tomorrow 100 thousand masks will be distributed to our citizens free of charge, on metro, metrobus and our ships operating within the scope of our city lines program.”
On the other hand, Ankara Mayor Mansur YAVAS also announced a similar decision on his Twitter account. He said, "As a result of the decision taken today, I would like to inform you that no unmasked passengers will be allowed on all public transport vehicles in our city and that the free distribution of masks will start from tomorrow. We will survive these difficult days by protecting our health, and we will succeed together”.
Generally speaking, it was observed that Turkish citizens were rather pleased with the decisions taken by Science Board of Turkey and announced by the President.
