On Wednesday morning, just before leaving my apartment to catch a train to Konya, my only practical knife decided to break. I was somewhat mystified last week as to why all alcoholic beverages were rendered off-limits to consumers and I figure that the rationale must be that alcohol drinking is a social activity and socializing spreads a pandemic.
But I am baffled and bothered as to why buying a frying pan or a knife or a pen constitutes a clear and present danger to the health of the Turkish people. The argument I hear is that the pandemic is airborne but can be transmitted onto the surfaces of anything that has come into contact with the virus.
Honestly, I am not certain if the powers that be truly know what to do in these extraordinary times. The Ministry, however, stressed that a majority of citizens obeyed the lockdown which came into effect on the evening of 29 April. Data provided by the Ministry show that the number of people who violated the weeknight curfews and weekend lockdowns stood at 42, between 19 April and 26 April, rising from 33, in the previous week.
From 5 April and 12 April, authorities took procedural and administrative actions against a total of 24, violators. The increase in the number of people subjected to actions for violating the curfews could be related to intensified nationwide in the wake of the full lockdown.
The government imposed the full lockdown in an attempt to curb the spread of the corona virus after the daily infections and deaths from Covid climbed record highs. During the day lockdown, most businesses, except for those operating in essential industries, will be closed while intercity travel is also banned and subjected to special permission from authorities. The Interior Ministry reported on 3 May that nearly 4 million such permission documents have been issued via the online registry system e-Devlet.
