Forest fires in southwestern Turkey have spread due to high temperatures and strong winds, Forestry Minister Vahit Kirishchi said, Reuters reports.

According to the agency, 150 people have been evacuated so far from about 50 houses in the vicinity of the Marmaris resort.

“This morning, we stated that the fire is largely under control, but the strengthening of the wind and the rise in temperature have led to the fire spreading again,” the minister said.

1,500 people are taking part in the firefighting, with more than 360 vehicles, 20 helicopters and 14 planes.

The cause of the fire that broke out in the pine forest in the Amazon Bay in Marmaris is still unknown at around 8 pm, Hurriyet reports.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the area affected by the fire by helicopter.

In Albania, the situation of Kornavirus is at almost negligible levels. During the last week (June 1 – June 7), only one victim was recorded, a 63-year-old woman from Saranda who lost her life this Monday. While 24 people are hospitalized, out of 39 patients who were last Monday, May 31st.

According to the data of the Ministry of Health, only 6 people are being treated in intensive therapy. The continuous decrease in the number of patients made that a few days ago the hospital “Shefqet Ndroqi” returned to normal, and cases with COVID 19 to be treated only in the Infectious Diseases Hospital.

Even new cases are at the lowest rates since the pandemic began. In total, 69 newly infected people were counted throughout the past week, or 31 percent less than in the previous week (May 25-May 31). However testing has continued to remain at high levels.

Throughout the week, 20,554 tampons were performed with a daily average of 2936 tests. As a result, the percentage of positivity (the ratio between tests and new cases) has dropped to 0.33 percent. Positivity is an indicator of virus transmission in the community.

Currently throughout the country the number of still active cases has dropped to 230 infected, of which half of them are in Tirana (60 cases) and Shkodra (54 cases).

In the meantime, the vaccination process is underway in the country. Official data show that a total of 798,624 doses of COVID vaccine have been administered to date. Of these, 306,102 citizens received both doses of the vaccine./VOA

Hairdressers, beauticians and medical professionals who are infected with COVID-19 can spread the virus to patients and their clients just by talking, according to a study.

The images show how particles coming out of a person’s mouth while talking can spin and spread in the vicinity of other people, even when wearing a mask.

Previous studies have found that rapid removal of droplets and aerosols, such as those from sneezing or coughing, dramatically increases the risk of spreading the virus. But the new study supports the theory that speech provides enough strength for the extracted particles to be a risk of infection, writes the Daily Mail.

Japanese researchers from Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo used smoke and laser light to track distant breathing. They recreated scenarios when one person leans on another person, such as when they wash their hair or perform a dental examination.

One volunteer leaned over another person and exhaled after breathing in smoke from an adapted electronic cigarette which produced artificial smoke consisting of droplets about one-tenth of a micrometer in diameter, similar in size to a virus particle.

The chemicals in the smoke mixture – a mixture of glycerin and propylene glycol – create a cloud that scatters light when illuminated by a laser. This allows the visualization of airflow patterns.

In the study, published in Physics of Fluids, the participant wore a mask or was without a mask while standing, sitting, face down or lying face up. They were instructed to constantly utter a typical Japanese greeting in a business setting after inhaling the vapors.

The study took place in a hair salon at Yamano College of Aesthetics in Tokyo and the attitudes studied were specially chosen to simulate customer service roles.

“A considerable amount of similar face-to-face contact would occur not only in the field of beauty but also in long-term and medical care,” said lead author Keiko Ishii.

The study found that air exhaled by a person who was not wearing a mask moves down due to gravity and would fall on a patient or client.

Investigators also found that face shields can prevent any aerosol leaking around the technician’s mask from traveling to the client.

“The shield of the face stimulated the increase of exhalation. Therefore, it is more effective to have a mask and face shield when offering services to customers “, said Ishii./Express