by Burak Akinci
ANKARA, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Experts attributed the recent significant rise of the COVID-19 cases in Türkiye to the Omicron subvariant BA.5.
Tayyar Sasmaz, a professor of public health from Türkiye's Mersin University Faculty of Medicine, told Xinhua that the new cases have soared in July due to the subvariant which spreads faster and infects rapidly even outdoors.
The BA.5 subvariant, which has been described by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "a variant of concern," is more contagious than previous ones and can infect outdoors, but is not stronger in causing fatalities, according to the expert.
Turkish Ministry of Health reported on Saturday there were more than 406,000 new COVID-19 cases and 337 deaths during the week of July 25-Aug. 1, compared to the previous weekly figures which showed 365,000 people tested positive for the coronavirus and 157 related deaths.
The country's official death toll stands at nearly 100,000, with over 15.8 million cases.
"This surge came earlier than we predicted," said Sasmaz, predicting higher cases in later months when people will more be indoors.
The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) has been urging the government to bring back some preventive measures, such as the indoor mask mandate.
The rate of those who received the third and fourth dose of vaccines is at a low level in Türkiye, the TTB said, recommending people with obesity, cancer or diabetes to take precautions.
Ayten Caglar, a family doctor in the capital city Ankara, told Xinhua that "currently, a majority of the COVID-19 cases stemmed from the BA.5 subvariant, and the elderly patients are at serious risk."
People with chronic illnesses should get the booster shot available since mid-July if six months have passed since their last vaccination, the physician added.
Hamit Ekinci, an emergency doctor from Diyarbakir, the main city of Türkiye's southeastern region, told Xinhua that they witnessed a rise in outpatients and hospitalizations with intensive care.
"The number of patients is expected to rise greatly in September, but we don't expect a similar rise in patients in need of intensive care," Ekinci pointed out.
