Dr. Kisic: There have been failures at different levels, someone will have to bear responsibility

Photo: Tanjug/Vlada RS/Slobodan Miljevic

The bottom line was to prevent coronavirus from entering social institutions due to characteristics of its users, epidemiologist Darija Kisic Tepavcevic has told RTS, pointing out that there have clearly been failures at different levels and that someone will have to bear responsibility for their actions. She stated that it is now a priority to place residents in appropriate facilities, so they are in the right place in the event of complications.

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Darija Kisic Tepavcevic told RTS that there had been regular reports about the situation in nursing homes and that the first major risk was observed at the Gerontology Center in Nis.

She says that quick response followed and that residents were transferred to the Nis Clinic in a short amount of time.

"Action was taken according to the same principle in Negotin yesterday. Transport for residents and employees was organized to the Clinical Center Nis and triage was done," said Darija Kisic Tepavcevic.

She added that 37 new patients have been placed in Sokobanja, seven were kept in the Clinical Center Nis, while three are in a temporary hospital in Niska Banja.

"This is now a well-established mechanism, which we unfortunately had to work out, because the basis was to prevent the virus from entering such facilities. We have seen that when this happens, then the spread is very fast, and this is the most sensitive part of the population where the likelihood of the most severe manifestations of the disease is the greatest," said Kisic Tepavcevic.

The Gerontology Center in Nis/ Photo: Telegraf/D.K.

The professor added that we are gradually returning to normal activities, but noted that the virus is still circulating in the population.

"Much of this is up to our personal responsibility and individual risk assessment," she said, adding that everyone's own health is valuable and that she hopes people will behave that way.

She stressed that, regardless of the fact that some social institutions are being reopened, it is necessary to reduce the risk and to apply general prevention measures related to this type of infection.

Darija Kisic Tepavcevic also said that sanitary inspectors will check how measures are being implemented in the hospitality establishments, but said that no regulations can replace personal responsibility and risk assessment when entering into certain types of activities.

Speaking about higher education institutions, Kisic Tepavcevic said that universities will make a decision soon. She announced the meeting of an extended Rector's College, after which students would be informed about everything.

The fact is that there are less examinations at infectious clinics

When it comes to the claims about the decline in the virulence of the virus, Darija Kisic Tepavcevic said that in the last few days it could be heard that this should not be expressed in this way, because (determining) virulence requires sophisticated research.

However, she said that indirect indicators show  that there are more and more asymptomatic cases, that there is an inversion of the incidence of clinical pictures in favor of the mild ones, and that the incubation period is extended.

She added that these are indirect indicators that point to the virus's ability to manifest itself in more severe forms of the disease has declined.

She also stated that this may in part be attributed to the increased volume of testing, but the fact is that there are fewer examinations at infectious clinics and a lower incidence of serious forms of the disease, and of the need to use ventilators in treating the sick.

Darija Kisic Tepavcevic said that further recommendations would depend on the epidemiological situation and that if the incidence of new cases and deaths changes, measures would need to be re-evaluated and new decisions made.

Her message is that we have seen many times that the virus is unpredictable and that we must do everything to prevent it from finding its way to a sensitive person.

(Telegraf.rs)