Turkey Issues a Partial Lockdown During the Holy Month of Ramadan
Turkey Muslim faithfuls have been hit hard by the new directives issued by the President during their holy month of Ramadan.
Nancy Odindo 
Turkey Muslim faithfuls have been hit hard by the new directives issued by the President during their holy month of Ramadan.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Tuesday, April 13, the eve of Ramadan a partial lockdown that will last for the first two weeks of the holy month.
The restrictions were put in place due to continuous increase in the number of covid-19 cases and deaths in the country.
Under the partial lockdown, the President said that:
- Pre-school, 8th and 12th grade students will continue in-person education, but all other grades will be required to do distance learning.
- Cafes, tea houses, and gyms will be closed – with restaurants only offering delivery services.
- Wedding, engagement parties and all other indoor activities are prohibited until the end of Ramadan, which ends on May 12.
- A weekday curfew has now been extended by two hours, from 7pm to 5am.
- Weekend curfews begin at 9pm on Friday and cover the entire weekend (Saturday and Sunday), ending at 5am on Monday.
- Government workers will be put on limited work hours with those who are pregnant, have pre-existing health conditions and women who have children under the age of 10 exempt from work.
- The private sector will be encouraged to adopt more “work from home.”
He added that if the measures fail to lessen the spread of the virus, the government will be forced to implement tougher measures.
A detailed list of new measures, which will go into effect on Wednesday, will be provided by the interior ministry, he said.
He added that Intercity travel is awaiting restrictions though did not give specifics.
Turkey reported 273 deaths and 59,187 new coronavirus cases over a 24 hour period on Tuesday.
This marked a high record, according to the health ministry.
