Professor says there could be as many more Covid-19 patients as current cases

While there is a new debate around the numbers of corona virus in Turkey every day, Coronavirus Science Board Member Prof. Dr. From Alpay AZAP made a much-talked about statement. Prof. AZAP said the only cases that were shared with the public were patients who tested positive for PCR, adding that there could be as many more Covid-19 patients as the current cases.

Infectious diseases and clinical microbiology specialist Prof. Dr. Alpay AZAM answered questions about covid-19 in Turkey, in an interview on the internet.

The professor said even if the corona virus tests came back negative in Turkey, such patients with clinical findings were approached as if they had covid-19 as well.

The professor reminded that the PCR tests used in the diagnosis of the disease were not very sensitive, and treatments were started taking into account the patient’s history of clues and clinical findings.

He said the Public Health Management System kept records of all these patients in an electronic environment and that the figures shared with the public were only those who had tested positive for PCR.

The professor said possible cases could be included in the total number and some countries had done a number correction with this method.

Explaining that this would not increase the number of corona virus cases by 10-20 times, he said, “At the end of the day, this is the group that the tests fail to capture. The group we think of as clinical and start treatment will be added” arguing that this would increase the total number by a factor of one fold at most.