Too many elderly Istanbulites still use public transportation, mayor warns amid coronavirus outbreak

Duvar English

Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Mayor of Istanbul from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) told Istanbulites on March 19 that residents over the age of 65 were still using public transportation too often amid the coronavirus outbreak.

“I would like to urge our older residents to please, please stay away from public places,” İmamoğlu said in a Tweet where he also shared data on public transportation use since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Toplu ulaşım analizimizde, salgın hastalık açısından risk grubundaki ileri yaşlardaki vatandaşlarımızın kullanım oranının hala yüksek olduğu görülmekte. İleri yaşlardaki vatandaşlarımızı özellikle uyarmak isterim; korunmak için lütfen ama lütfen toplu alanlardan uzak durun. pic.twitter.com/HkJpCKPC1j

— Ekrem İmamoğlu (@ekrem_imamoglu) March 19, 2020

Some 532,716 Istanbulites over the age of 65 used public transportation on March 4. A week later, on March 11, this number had fallen to 481,143. A week after that, on March 18, the number had dropped by almost 60 percent to 185 851. Since March 4, the use of public transportation by older individuals has decreased by 54 percent.

Turkey’s elderly population increases by 20 pct since 2014

Data onthe coronavirus have shown that the Covid-19 virus is most fatal tothe elderly, as well as immunocompromised individuals.

So far,the coronavirus has infected nearly 200 individuals in Turkey, andtwo patients have died from complications related to the disease.