Doctor Kon: I'm sad about the protest, I spoke with Vucic about introducing curfew only in Belgrade

Epidemiologist Doctor Predrag Kon says the measures presented by the president of Serbia yesterday, which refer to introducing a curfew from Friday to Monday, will be seriously considered

I wish good health to all citizens, I express a feeling of great sadness because of what happened last night, epidemiologist Doctor Predrag Kon told N1 this morning, commenting on the protest in Belgrade.

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He stated at the beginning of the conversation that there are indications that the situation regarding coronavirus has been calming down in Belgrade over the previous three days.

"After three days, we have between 400 and 450 people who are suspected of having Covid, and before that we had about 600, even more, on a daily basis. We have the first indicators that are pointing towards something better," said Kon and added that the measures announced by the president exist in order to prevent further expansion of contacts.

"The main indicator for when these measures would be implemented is how filled up the capacities of health institutions in the territory of Belgrade are. At one point it was up to 300 a day. We must not allow ourselves to have no room in hospitals," the epidemiologist stated.

He stressed that the virus is still here.

"We will suppress it again, there is no dilemma, in a few weeks, and we will be in an acceptable situation. It may be another month before its starts to rise again. If another wave starts, it could be worse than this one. In such circumstances, it's normal to think that capacities are needed for a more difficult situation," said the doctor.

Kon stated that there is a lack of (medical) staff that will have to be filled "any way we can" - but that this must be thought about in advance.

"I am sure that is disturbing, but I think that it must be communicated to the public, everything must be announced, everything we are thinking about, so that we don't have the kind of despair that was expressed yesterday, and which I can fully understand. Again, I am really sad about that," the epidemiologist said.

Doctor Kon added that the president went public with his thoughts, and that people showed how desperate they are because of that.

"Personally, I think that we will seriously discuss it at the Crisis HQ, taking that reaction into account. Honestly, the last think on anyone's mind is to harass anybody. The only goal, in addition to saving lives, is for the health system to be ready," the doctor pointed out, referring to restrictive anti-coronavirus measures.

As he explained, the virus is transmitted quickly and starts appearing explosively, and then explosive and fast response is needed.

Curfew discussed only in Belgrade

When asked whether the curfew from Friday to Monday, announced by the president, will be in force in the whole of Serbia, Doctor Kon replied:

"When I spoke with the president, we only spoke about Belgrade."

Doctor Kon also stated that contacts, i.e. the spread of the virus, must be prevented, and that is done most effectively by implementing the most severe measures.

(Telegraf.rs)