People play soccer at an indoor stadium after its reopening in Istanbul, Turkey, Aug. 12, 2020. Turkish authorities on Wednesday reopened soccer turf fields after five months of closure amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Yasin Akgul/Xinhua)
ISTANBUL, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Turkish authorities on Wednesday reopened soccer turf fields after five months of closure amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Youth and Sports Ministry issued a series of precautions to be applied in the facilities to minimize the coronavirus contamination risk.
It said locker rooms and showers would not be available for use, and all the facilities would be regularly disinfected every night.
Additionally, an isolation room would be provided for those who show symptoms of the disease until they would be transferred to a hospital.
And the personnel of the fields would strictly follow the social distancing rule and wear masks all the time.
Ahmet, an employee of a field in the Kucukcekmece district on the European side of Turkey's biggest city Istanbul, told Xinhua that the opening of turf fields is important.
"White-collar employees mostly prefer our facility," he noted. "They come here to play football and get rid of the troubles of life."
The country recorded 1,212 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday and 18 deaths, raising the total number of infections to 244,392 and the death toll to 5,891.
