Turkey to bring home COVID-19 patient in Sweden

By Burak Bir

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey will send an ambulance plane to bring home one of its citizens who was not treated in Sweden although he tested positive for the coronavirus, Ankara’s health minister said Sunday.

Fahrettin Koca ordered the plane to bring back Emrullah Gulusken, 47, and his four children to Turkey from Malmo.

Gulusken’s daughter, Samira, shared a video on social media about her father’s situation and asked for help.

She said after her father experienced fever and shortness of breath, she called hospitals but did not receive a return call.

Turkey's Embassy in Stockholm and Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) contacted the family and Koca talked to the younger Gulusken.

"After a doctor came home and checked my father, he called the ambulance and asked to be taken to the hospital. After being hospitalized, he was diagnosed with the COVID-19. Despite this, they sent my father back home," she told Anadolu Agency.

After originating in China last December, COVID-19 has spread to at least 185 countries and regions. Europe and the US are currently the worst-hit regions.

The pandemic has killed more than 202,600 worldwide, with total infections nearing 2.9 million, while an excess of 816,200 patients have recovered, according to figures compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University.