Turkey has developed a potential drug to treat coronavirus patients, which now is license pending, Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank said on Friday
ANTAKYA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th June, 2020) Turkey has developed a potential drug to treat coronavirus patients, which now is license pending, Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank said on Friday.
"We have produced an important medication to treat those people who are infected with the coronavirus ... We plan to administer it in Turkey and export it," Varank said on the NTV broadcaster.
The minister added that the medication was currently going through the license procedures.
The COVID-19 situation is stabilizing in Turkey, allowing the government to start easing the lockdown measures last month. Shopping malls, barbershops and beauty salons have been allowed to resume work.
On June 1, Turkey resumed domestic air traffic, which was suspended in April. In early June, Minister of Transport Adil Karaismailoglu said that Turkey is planning to restore air travel with 40 countries later in the month.
The Turkish Airlines flag carrier announced on Friday that it would resume international flights to the Netherlands and major cities of Germany, such as Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich, starting on June 11, Switzerland on June 14, Belgium on June 15, as well as to Austria and the United States later in the month.
On Thursday, the country's Health Ministry confirmed 987 new cases of COVID-19, which is a slight increase from the 922 cases reported the previous day. The total count of coronavirus cases in Turkey now exceeds 174,000, with 4,763 deaths and more than 148,000 recoveries.
