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Turkey Bans Gatherings in 14 Provinces to Fight Pandemic

Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk in a street of Ankara on August 26, 2020, as Turkey has reported 1,502 new confirmed cases of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) - the highest daily jump in more than a month. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP)
Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk in a street of Ankara on August 26, 2020, as Turkey has reported 1,502 new confirmed cases of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) - the highest daily jump in more than a month. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP)
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Turkey Bans Gatherings in 14 Provinces to Fight Pandemic

Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk in a street of Ankara on August 26, 2020, as Turkey has reported 1,502 new confirmed cases of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) - the highest daily jump in more than a month. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP)
Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk in a street of Ankara on August 26, 2020, as Turkey has reported 1,502 new confirmed cases of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) - the highest daily jump in more than a month. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP)

Turkey has reimposed preventive measures in light of the rapid spread of the coronavirus, and infections hitting a record level since mid-June.

The Interior Ministry said it was banning certain events and ceremonies in 14 provinces, including the capital, Ankara.

In a nationwide notice, it said weddings in the 14 provinces would be allowed for up to one hour only, saying celebrations or parties were banned.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a new presidential decree Wednesday that made an informal working model official.

Under the decree, all state institutions may now implement “flexible working methods” to prevent the COVID-19 outbreak.

The decree, which was published in the Official Gazette, allows civil servants to work from home and in rotated shifts, replacing a brief administrative leave with the continued but safe working plan.

It gave managers the right to define flexible work principles, procedures and relevant principles.

Employees who benefit from these flexible work methods will be considered to have already fulfilled their job duties during this period.

According to the decree, employees working from home or in rotation will be equal in terms of responsibility, as their financial, social and other personal rights will be preserved.

It stressed that employees on leave, working from home or in rotation will not be able to leave the scope of their workplaces without their managers’ permission.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s new coronavirus cases jumped on Tuesday to their highest level since mid-June at 1,502, according to Health Ministry data.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter that 24 more people died from COVID-19, bringing the country’s death toll to 6,163.

Daily cases were last this high on June 15 - two weeks after Turkey lifted a partial lockdown - when the country logged 1,592 cases.

Head of Turkey’s opposition Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) Ali Babacan said on Tuesday he had tested positive for coronavirus but was in good health, becoming the most high-profile Turkish politician to contract the disease.

“I just learned my COVID-19 test result is positive. Thank God, I am in good condition at the moment. My doctors said I needed to remain in quarantine with my family for some time. I will continue my work from home, God willing,” he said on Twitter.

Babacan, 53, also a former deputy prime minister, resigned from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party last July over “deep differences” about the direction of the party he helped found. In March he formed his rival political party.

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Taiwan Warns of Storm Surge from Powerful Typhoon Krathon, Mobilizes Troops

Taiwanese military personnel load sand bags onto a truck at a city government district office for distribution in anticipation of typhoon Krathon as it approaches Kaohsiung on October 1, 2024. (AFP)
Taiwanese military personnel load sand bags onto a truck at a city government district office for distribution in anticipation of typhoon Krathon as it approaches Kaohsiung on October 1, 2024. (AFP)
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Taiwan Warns of Storm Surge from Powerful Typhoon Krathon, Mobilizes Troops

Taiwanese military personnel load sand bags onto a truck at a city government district office for distribution in anticipation of typhoon Krathon as it approaches Kaohsiung on October 1, 2024. (AFP)
Taiwanese military personnel load sand bags onto a truck at a city government district office for distribution in anticipation of typhoon Krathon as it approaches Kaohsiung on October 1, 2024. (AFP)

Taiwan mobilized nearly 40,000 troops on Tuesday to be on standby for rescue efforts as powerful Typhoon Krathon approached its populous southwest coast, which is bracing for a storm surge.

As the typhoon approached, helicopters lifted to safety 19 sailors forced to abandon ship when it took on water.

Some flights were cancelled, a rail line was closed and in the major port city of Kaohsiung, shops and restaurants shut and streets were mostly deserted.

Taiwan regularly gets hit by typhoons, but they generally land along the mountainous and sparsely populated east coast facing the Pacific, but this one will make landfall on the island's flat western plain.

Krathon is forecast to hit Kaohsiung early on Wednesday afternoon, then work its way across the center of Taiwan heading northeast and cross out into the East China Sea, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.

Kaohsiung, home to some 2.7 million people, declared a holiday and told people to stay at home as Krathon - labelled a super typhoon by the US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center - approached.

Li Meng-hsiang, a forecaster for Taiwan's Central Weather Administration, said the storm has reached its maximum intensity and could weaken slightly as it moves closer to Taiwan, warning of gusts of more than 150 kph (93 mph) for the southwest.

"The storm surge might bring tides inland," Li said. "If it's raining heavily it will make it difficult to discharge waters and as a result coastal areas will be subject to flooding."

Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai, speaking to reporters after a disaster management meeting, said the strength and path of the storm were both on par with 1977's Typhoon Thelma which killed 37 people and devastated the city.

"After the typhoon, the whole of Kaohsiung was without water and electricity, just like a war," Chen said, recalling the decades-ago destruction. "As much as possible, limit going out."

Taiwan's defense ministry said it had put more than 38,000 troops on standby, as Kaohsiung residents made their own preparations.

"It's going to strike us directly. We must be fully prepared," said fisherman Chen Ming-huang, as he tightened ropes on his boat in Kaohsiung harbor. "In the worst-case scenario the ropes might snap and my boat could drift away."

TSMC, the world's largest contract chip maker and a major supplier to Apple and Nvidia and which has a large factory in neighboring Tainan, said it had activated routine typhoon preparations and did not expect a significant impact to its operations.

SEARCH FOR SAILORS

Off the southeast coast, Taiwan rescue helicopters lifted to safety 19 sailors from a listing cargo vessel travelling from China to Singapore, the government said. The sailors were taken to shelter on Taiwan's remote Orchid Island.

The transport ministry said 88 domestic flights and 24 international ones had been cancelled, with boats to outlying islands also stopped. It added that all domestic flights - 234 in total - would stop on Wednesday.

The rail line connecting southern to eastern Taiwan was closed, though the north-south high-speed line was operating as normal, albeit with enhanced safety checks for wind and debris.

In Kaohsiung, most shops and restaurants pulled down their shutters, and traditional wet markets shut with streets mostly deserted.

At a building in Siaogang district, home to the city's airport, residents practiced how to rapidly set up metal barriers to stop water flooding into the underground parking lot.

"We will have only a few minutes to react if the flooding is coming," said Chiu Yun-ping, deputy head of the building's residents' committee.

Chen Mei-ling, who lives near the harbor, said in past typhoons high tides reached just a few meters (yards) from her house's main door and she had made preparations.

"We've got torches and emergency food supplies," Chen said. "It's a strong typhoon and we are worried."