Turkey: Border Town School Produces Medical Ventilator

Under research and development efforts by the Turkish National Education Ministry, a high school near Turkey's southern border succeeded in producing a medical ventilator critical in treating COVID-19, an official said on Thursday.

In Turkey's southern-most Hatay province, Sehit Serkan Talan Vocational and Technical High School will begin mass production of the breathing assistance machines after the device is registered, Mahmut Ozer, deputy national education minister, told Anadolu Agency.

Underlining that the ministry supports such research and development activities at high schools to fight the pandemic, Ozer noted that on a previous occasion, another high school had successfully manufactured an ultrasonic surgical mask machine.

Meanwhile, other vocational high schools have made protective medical clothes, such as masks and jumpsuits, as well as disinfectants. They produce around 10 million masks monthly.

With severe shortness of breath a hallmark of the novel coronavirus, the global pandemic has increased the need for medical ventilators, resulting in fresh impetus across the globe to research and manufacture the devices.

In Turkey, several technology and defense companies, such as Baykar, Aselsan, Havelsan, TAI, BIOSYS and Arcelik that produced the first indigenous medical ventilator device, have focused on its mass production.

The virus has infected 69,392 people so far in Turkey and caused 1,518 deaths, while 5,674 have recovered.

The novel coronavirus has spread to at least 185 countries and regions since emerging in Wuhan, China last December, with the U.S. and Europe now the hardest-hit areas.

Positive cases have exceeded 2 million cases worldwide, with the death toll at more than 137,000 and nearly 517,000 recoveries, according to data compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

*Writing and contributions by Gokhan Ergocun from Istanbul -