Turkey’s police threatened face mask manufacturers with the seizure of their factories if they failed to start selling their stock to the government by 20:00 local time on March 23.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu informed reporters that on March 22 simultaneous raids were carried out on depots of some local producers stocking protective masks. The producers were warned that they must immediately sign contracts with the health ministry given the situation with the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, he said.
Police and local officials, meanwhile, started to assist with deliveries of food and medicine to homes of citizens older than 65 and those with chronic diseases.
Turkey has shut down more than 165,000 businesses in its effort to contain the spread of the virus, which had officially claimed 30 lives in the country by the end of March 22.
Bloomberg repoted that Turk Traktor ve Ziraat Makineleri suspended production for 14 days at its two plants from March 23 to contain the spread of coronavirus and due to disruptions in procurement and deliveries from Europe. The day also reportedly saw three textile companies—Menderes Tekstil Sanayi ve Ticaret, Rodrigo Tekstil Sanayi ve Ticaret and Soktas Tekstil Sanayi ve Ticare—halt production.
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