ISTANBUL, Sept 19 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Turkey’s biggest city, Istanbul, adopted alternate working hours for public employees, to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, over the rising number of daily cases, Istanbul Governor, Ali Yerlikaya, announced yesterday.
Speaking at a press conference, Yerlikaya said, the new programme aimed to reduce the crowd on public transport, during rush hours, to restrain the contamination risk.
He noted that under the new programme, police, gendarmerie, and coast guard officers, will have their shifts start at 7.00 a.m., while municipality workers at 8.00 a.m. and health workers at 8:30 a.m. All other public employees will work between 9:00 a.m and 4:30 p.m.
The governor emphasised, the alternate and flexible working hours would also be adopted for the private sectors as well, after finalising the details.
In Istanbul, with a population of over 16 million, there are 5.5 million public employees, he said, adding that currently, 4.1 million people are using public transport each day. This number was previously 7.5 million, before the pandemic, according to Yerlikaya.
Meanwhile, Health Minister, Fahrettin Koca, announced that, the total number of people infected with the disease has almost reached 300,000 in the country as of yesterday.– NNN-ANADOLU
