Politics

Getting rid of the face coverings as if Covid ended

The Covid-19 epidemic continues to take lives, but not only in Turkey, but also in many countries, governments have begun to losen the measures. The priority is in trade.

Turkey’s Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca announced that he will make important statements next week, including when the face covering requirement will be lifted. He predicted that the Covid-19 epidemic, which reached its peak last week, would decline in 2-3 weeks. The Minister also announced that 258 people died on February 17, as he said there were positive developments in the course of the Covid epidemic. Since the beginning of the epidemic, according to official records, deaths from Covid have exceeded 91600, moving to the limit of 100 thousand. On February 16, 271 people died, according to official records. A mid-sized passenger planeload of people die every day. Thinking about it like that gives you goosebumps.

Although the health minister sees it as a positive trend, Covid deaths in Turkey continue to increase as seen in the graph below.

Increase in deaths from Covid in Turkey between February 2020 and February 2022. (Worldometer)

Moreover, it is stated by medical experts that the real number may be much higher than this as the detection of contamination, such as test and filiation is not sufficient enough.

Not only in Turkey

It is not only Turkey that is preparing to ease the measures. The situation is not much different in Germany, which is in the group of countries where a medium-sized planeload of people die every day due to Covid-19, such as Turkey and Italy. Uğur Şahin, who developed the Covid vaccine with his wife Özlem Türeci, gave the bad news that the disease could continue for another 10 years, again on February 17. On the same day, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that the measures would be lifted gradually. Protests are held in Germany for the abolition of the mask requirement in indoor public spaces. The apparent reason is “freedom”.

Here, below is the graph showing the increase in deaths from Covid in Germany; there is no decrease.

February 2020-February 2022 The total Coronavirus Deaths in Germany. (Worldometer)

As can be seen, the deaths continue, but the governments are loosening the restrictions. It’s almost as if they are saying, “The one who has been vaccinated has mild symptoms if contaminated, and the rest is no longer our problem.” The graphic below shows the increase in the number of deaths in Denmark, which lifted all measures as of February 1, after removing the measures.

February 2020-February 2022 The total Coronavirus Deaths in Denmark. As can be seen, there is an increase in deaths after Denmark lifted the measures. (Worldometer)

These graphs were drawn by the Worldometer site based on daily data published by countries on death cases officially reported to the World Health Organization.

It’s not just Covid that kills

So, what’s wrong with these governments?

It’s actually simple: not to hinder trading. The capitalist economies, which were hit by the Covid epidemic, could no longer tolerate the slowdown of trade with new health measures.

Of course, the fact that the people’s being tired of the measures and starting to get restless also has an effect. Therefore, it is difficult for them to listen to Uğur Şahin. Instead, they listen to Bill Gates. Gates, the founder of Microsoft, says that the epidemic will end by the end of 2022 “if the right steps are taken”. They forget that Gates had given the disease a lifetime until March 2022 at the beginning of 2021. March has come, but the disease continues to kill.

Below is the graph showing that the disease continues to kill at an increasing rate worldwide.

February 2020-February 2022: Total Coronavirus Deaths continue to increase regularly. (Worldometer)

Western governments prefer to believe Gates, because even though the disease has not gone, Gates says, “it’s over now, look at your business.”

So it’s not just the coronavirus Covid-19 that kills. Tthe principle of the capitalist economy which teaches not to stop trade, with the support of world governments also kills.

Example of inverting graphs

But there is also an example that reverses these growth charts. And that is China, where the disease originated and spread to the world. China suffered a lot due to the disease, which it did not fully understand at first. Then they began to apply strict measures without compromise. They got the death count under control. Inverted the graph.

Here is the Covid death chart, which China should set an example for other countries:

Total Coronavirus Deaths in China. It seems that insistence on measures has brought deaths under control. (Worldometer)

I think you should not be in a hurry to throw away your masks. Get your vaccines. Be careful when entering crowds indoors. The disease continues.

Murat Yetkin

Journalist-Writer

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