Dr. Kon shows up not wearing a mask for the first time: "It's time to reduce distancing to 1 meter"

Printcreen: TV Pink

Dr. Predrag Kon, an epidemiologist and a member of the Crisis HQ set up to combat the coronavirus epidemic, was a guest on a TV program this morning without wearing a face mask for the first time. He was a guest on TV Pink and spoke about testing for coronavirus, and in that regard, he said that a lot of people are convinced that they had the virus, but that he is quite skeptical about that.

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He is of the opinion that there have not been as many cases as people think there had been.

"For people who want to know, this commercial testing is available, which includes quick vein blood tests. The results are obtained relatively quickly. At our City Institute, testing must be scheduled and there must be payment to the account," Kon told TV Pink, where he appeared without wearing a face mask for the first time since the coronavirus epidemic was declared.

Kon specified that scheduling is necessary in order to avoid crowds and added that the test detects the presence of antibodies, not of the virus.

"There are two classes of antibodies, one is IgG, the other IgM. However, I recommend everyone to seek the interpretation of a virologist if they are found to have developed antibodies. We in the City Institute have someone who can interpret that. Apart from a virologist, the findings can also be interpreted by an immunologist or an infectologist," Kon explained.

Interpreting Elisa tests

As he says, IgM antibodies imply a fresh infection that requires a PCR test to be done, at the expense of the state.

"If a person has IgG but no IgM antibodies, it means that it's something that happened earlier, which means that there are antibodies and some degree of protection, and it is most often mentioned that this is a period of a year and a half," said Dr. Kon.

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When asked why it's important to know if we have been infected with coronavirus, Dr. Kon said that there's no special importance, and added that those who are interested should get tested.

Speaking about coronavirus starting earlier than it was discovered, Kon said that the question remained of how much earlier it had appeared.

"The mass nature of that is the question of whether it did. There is also the fact called the epidemiological process, the question arises, if the virus started in December, then why did the virus not gain momentum and transmission earlier," said Kon.

He added that this disease had an average incubation of five to seven days, while now it is prolonged, going up to two weeks.

It's time to relax

Dr. Kon said that we in Serbia have overcome this situation and points out that it is time to relax.

"I completely accept what Professor Tiodorovic said, that it is time to abolish the measures. We have now reached the very end when we just need to keep distance, which can be reduced from two meters to a meter. A meter and a half is an absolutely safe distance," said Kon.

According to him, the Crisis HQ never said that we should stay locked up longer than May 31.

"We are now entering a zone moving from an uncertain epidemiological situation to a favorable one," Kon stressed, and added that Vojvodina is already in a favorable situation.

He said that the epidemic cannot be officially declared over because that takes 28 consecutive days without any new cases.

(Telegraf.rs)