"Violators to be severely sanctioned": Serbia could have 1,200 new Covid cases; no new decisions

Photo: Tanjug/Dragan Kujundzic

At the moment, there will be no new measures to suppress the coronavirus epidemic, but we will severely sanction those who violate the existing ones. We can't shut down the economy, we can't shut down life. But what we have already brought as measures must be respected, President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic said in his address to the media.

He stressed that today is the hardest day in terms of the number of newly infected people.

"We will certainly have over 1,200 infected people, the latest number as of noon was 1,195, and 50 percent are still from Belgrade," said Vucic.

He stressed that at the meeting with the heads of all Covid hospitals in the country, they spoke about how to improve our healthcare system and save particularly endangered patients.

"And how to react in the future regarding vaccines and obtaining additional quantities of flu vaccines. The figures are worrying, but even with that, the situation (in Serbia) is still significantly better than in all other parts of Europe. There was also talk about how to show respect to those people, the doctors, the medical staff. We made the decision that all 120,000 (healthcare) employees will receive one-time support of 10,000 dinars. And the permanent salary increase to health workers starts on January 1," the president pointed out, adding that their salaries will be increased the most.

Epidemiologist and member of the Crisis HQ, Dr. Predrag Kon, said this morning that the coronavirus epidemic is accelerating and that we are witnessing the rise of the third wave.

He pointed out that restricting movement is in the last measure to be considered, that risky places should be shut down first, and added that there has been exponential growth of infections in Belgrade.

In Serbia, the number of 1,000 newly infected people within one day was exceeded for the first time on Tuesday, when five people also died.

(Telegraf.rs)