Turkish doctors clap for COVID-19 survivors

ANKARA

Doctors across Turkey on Thursday discharged patients who have recovered from COVID-19 with a resounding round of applause.

All of them were informed about the 14-day home quarantine period and social isolation. Doctors will remain to monitor the patients.

Turkey has so far confirmed over 42,000 COVID-19 cases and the death toll stands at 908.

So far, a total of 2,142 have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.

At least 100 patients were discharged from Gazi̇ Yasargi̇l Educati̇on Research Hospi̇tal in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir.

In the Aegean province of Izmir, a doctor was discharged after making a full recovery. Dr. Cansu Atmaca Mutlu was sent home amid a round of claps by her colleagues.

A 71-year-old man was discharged from a state hospital in Tokat province where he was admitted eight days ago. Bektas Cakmak thanked the hospital staff for their assistance.

A 55-year-old patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and diabetes defeated COVID-19 in the southeastern province of Kahramanmaras.

Another 222 patients were discharged from the hospital in the central province of Konya.

Mustafa Sahin, the rector of Selcuk University, told Anadolu Agency that the number of patients in Konya has now dropped to 300-350.

He also said that each patient goes through five to six coronavirus tests until doctors allow them to go home, adding that doctors also refer to a tomography for a certain diagnosis.

In the western province of Bursa, a couple that started treatment on the same day was discharged together within a week.

Another 32 patients -- who had returned from Umrah pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia -- were discharged from hospitals in the central province of Kayseri.

In the eastern Erzurum province, 61 people went home after making a full recovery.

Sevim Altinok, 37, was discharged from Baskent University Medical and Research Center of Alanya after receiving medical treatment.

Another 13 patients were discharged in the northern Corum province of the country, according to the provincial governor's office.

Since the virus emerged last December in the Chinese city of Wuhan, it has spread to at least 184 countries and regions, infecting over 1.5 million people and killing more than 93,000, according to the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.