ANKARA

Turkey is prepared for all possible scenarios amid the global coronavirus pandemic, said Turkey's president in a live televised address on Wednesday.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was one of the first countries to take precautions against the novel coronavirus and that the country currently had 165,000 doctors, 205,000 nurses, 490,000 medical officials and 360,000 support staff.

Assuring that the government would always stand by tradesmen and craftsmen, Erdogan said the unemployment fund and credit guarantee fund would be strengthened.

He said that by severely bringing down the rate of the disease's spread within 2-3 weeks, the country would emerge from the outbreak as soon as possible and with the least possible damage.

"The world is moving towards a period in which nothing will be the same after this epidemic disease, and a brand new global, political, economic and social system will be built," the president said.

"Every citizen's life is equally important for us, therefore we say: 'Stay at home, Turkey'," Erdogan said.