How Turkey is Adapting the Post-Corona Era?
Since March 2020, when the announcement of the first Covid-19 case took place, Turkey has passed through many changes in many aspects of daily life. The measures taken kept changing at specific times. The way people can socialize or the working hours keep changing either. The opening hours for museums were also unstable and open to a sudden change according to the state of the Covid-19 cases in Turkey. Health systems also had a different structure to deal with Covid-19. For example, some hospitals served only Covid patients. For a great deal of time, people did not leave their homes, often only cargo workers were present in the city. This extraordinary effort in Istanbul and all of Turkey in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak had been an attempt to get the least damage. The arrival of the summer months also created another perception among locals which also influenced the changes in curfew regulations. Here we have gathered the most recent travel-related Covid-19 updates for you.
On 19th August 2021 the Presidency Cabinet gathered and took new measures. The Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a new circular about the new PCR regulations which will be in force since 6th of September 2021. Here we share the most recent travel-related Covid-19 updates in Turkey.
What city are you currently living in? What would you say if you had the opportunity to give a local suggestion for those who come to your city?
I live in Istanbul. We evolved from one chaos to the other. It is necessary to repeat the common proposal of the whole world; “Paid attention to hygiene”.
Lockdown & Mobility
- Any type of lockdown related to days, hours and citizens will completely end.
- Any kind of working place will function as usual.
- Local open markets will function as usual.
- The passenger/seat capacity restrictions will end.
- If not vaccinated or haven’t passed the illness, passengers are obliged to show their negative PCR test results before their intercity trips with public transportations. PCR test result is valid within 48 hours.
Hotels & Accommodation
With the start of the summer season, hotels and other accommodation businesses were opened and they are still functioning. In hotels, new rules have been added to the usual hygiene rules: Now there are ozonation systems in the rooms. The entrance to the hotels is provided with thermal cameras. Hotels have switched from 100 percent occupancy to 50 percent. Thus, the social distance rule is easy to follow. Health checks are carried out daily for the personnel. Instead of chain hotels, boutique ones started to attract more attention. Instead of serving all guests in the common area, new personalized service types developed. This supports people who want to stay at the hotel to protect their isolation. Here are the new regulations:
- There will be no more restrictions on services of accommodation facilities. They will function as usual along with hygiene, mask and social-distance rules.
- Some open or closed space entertainment activities will be regulated based on the type of activities in terms of Pandemic Management Guide.
What city are you currently living in? What would you say if you had the opportunity to give a local suggestion for those who come to your city?
We are in Istanbul. Our suggestion is to spend a day in a neighborhood and wander around there all day instead of visiting the fixed places they see on the internet. The Anatolian side of the city is especially perfect for this. There are so many beautiful attractions that we don’t want people to limit with standard 9-10 places.
Selva Afacan & Rıdvan Çobanoğlu – Walls Of Istanbul
Outgoing & Activities
Hygiene mats, mask, and glove waste boxes, hand disinfectants, thermometers with thermal cameras are placed in many parts of public space, transportation vehicles, and many buildings such as museums and restaurants. Seats and similar furniture in resting areas are rearranged according to the social distance rule. Here are the new regulations:
- Food and beverage places such as cafes, restaurants, and patisseries will function in terms of their own opening and closing hours as usual.
- There won’t be any restrictions on the number of people sitting at the same table either in closed or open areas of the venues, except the distance between the tables and chairs.
- Cinemas will function as usual.
- Live music events will temporarily take place until midnight 24 am.
- In events such as concerts, festivals and youth camps, the personal space will be measured as 4 square meters per person in open spaces and 6 square meters in closed spaces. Such events will be allowed along with hygiene, mask and social-distance rules.
- Open swimming pools, sports centers, amusement parks, and football fields will function with the specific social-distancing regulations
- The enclosed swimming pools, hammams, saunas, massage salons, and tavernas will start functioning again.
- There won’t be any mask-wearing and social-distancing restrictions in seashores, gardens, and parks.
- If not vaccinated or haven’t passed the illness, passengers are obliged to show their negative PCR test results before attending cultural events such as concerts, theatre and cinema. PCR test result is valid within 48 hours.
Let’s keep in mind that the different cities might have different regulations in accordance with the Covid-19 risk. You can check the most recent risk updates on the Covid-19 Information Platform made by the Ministry of Health. The website is only in the Turkish language, however, you will easily get informed through the apparent maps and numbers anyway, click here. The visiting hours of the museums and tourist places might have been updated as well, don’t forget to check the time before visiting or just purchase a HeyTripster trip plan and everything is already planned for you.
Although it was good for us to stay in our homes during the coronavirus period, the global extent of this disease made us feel the same not only with the people around us but also with people we’ve never met on another continent. In addition, nature renewed itself as we stayed in our homes. Air and sea became a little bit clearer. We are now more sensitive to each other and to the environment. Our awareness of health has increased. Living healthy has become a trend. Everyone understood the importance of their families. We realized that our freedoms are also interdependent. In other words, the post-corona period will start a “new awareness” for all of us, giving more importance to our personal hygiene and healthcare systems.
