Turkish Health Minister warns on first day of reopening: Being too close will bring an early separation

Turkey's Health Minister Fahrettin Koca criticized consumers for flocking to shopping malls on the first day they would open after nearly two months of COVID-19 closures. While pointing to the lack of social distancing in a photograph that showed a queue outside one shopping mall Koca warned that "being too close will bring an early separation".

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Turkey's Health Minister Fahrettin Koca criticized consumers for flocking to shopping malls on May 11, the first day that they opened after nearly two months of COVID-19 closures.

Minister Koca noted that citizens mostly failed to adhere to social distancing to the point of forming lines outside of shopping malls, and that some were even seen without masks.

"Neither masks, nor social distancing are enough alone. All precautions must be adhered to," Koca tweeted. "The risk is ongoing. Let's stay home if we can."

Minister Koca also shared a photograph of a queue outside a shopping mall, with the words "being too close will bring an early separation" written on it.

The minister had also criticized crowds on Istanbul's Istiklal Avenue a week prior.

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