Turkey's response to COVID-19: first impressions - Ankara, Turkey, 11 July 2020

Turkey’s response to and experience thus far with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic affords the world and the region a unique opportunity for and distinctive insights into combating this novel virus. On the one hand, Turkey has one of the lowest case fatality ratios (2.8%; and 52.5 infections/million population), particularly among the elderly aged 65 years and older (the high-risk group). It has also risen to the occasion and shouldered its role as a longstanding propagator of global solidarity and provider of humanitarian support.

Turkey’s success in scaling up local manufacturing of personal protective equipment (PPE), a globally scarce commodity, and dispatching supplies on humanitarian grounds to many countries in their time of desperate need to fight against the pandemic, while still able to meet critical domestic needs, offers key lessons in manufacturing and adjusting supply chains.

This paper aims to highlight key policies and practices, and partnerships behind Turkey’s effective and successful fight against the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. These have enabled the country to significantly lower the case load, and to expand upon the elements behind this success.