Holidays to Turkey could be off amid soaring Covid cases

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Soaring cases of coronavirus in Turkey could dash the summer holiday hopes of thousands of lockdown-weary Brits.

The country reported 21,030 new cases on Friday, up from 8,424 on March 1.

The rapid rise comes just a week after Turkey announced it would soon be ready to accept British tourists without Covid checks or vaccination passports.

Officials said they would also re-evaluate whether visitors must continue to produce evidence of a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of their departure.

Turkey hoped to reopen to Brits as soon as the UK Government lifts its ban on non-essential travel, which had been earmarked for May 17.

But this date is looking increasingly unlikely as Europe is gripped by a third wave of infections.

Turkey has allowed bars and restaurants to reopen at half-capacity in most regions but many have been packed as the rules prove “nearly unenforceable.”

Although the country’s vaccination programme has progressed at a quicker rate than some EU nations, it has so far delivered two jabs to just 5.8 per cent of its population, estimated to be around 82million.

Vedat Bulut, the general secretary of the Turkish Medical Association, told the Daily Telegraph: “The decision on opening up for the tourism season is up to the success of the vaccination campaign. In order to obtain herd immunity, Turkey needs to vaccinate 70 per cent of the population.

“The Aegean and Mediterranean coast currently have lower infection rates than the worst-affected areas, but when the weather gets warmer people will move there for holidays. There should be a lockdown for 14 days and then we can manage to decrease the daily cases to 100 to 200,” he added.

But the idea of a lockdown is not appealing to many businesses who have been closed for months due to restrictions.

On Thursday, restaurant owners in the Anatolian city of Konya, one of the 17 provinces deemed “very high risk”, burnt tables and chairs in protest against lockdown and business closures.

Small business owners and hospitality venues have been severely hit by the lack of tourism over the past year which has weakened Turkey’s economy.

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