PM: People are here anyway, no one got infected skiing, but they did in cafes. Stricter monitoring

"This will not change anything in that (epidemiological) sense," she said

Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabic attended the opening of a new gondola that connects Brzece with Mali Karaman on top of Mt. Kopaonik, and on that occasion, when asked why the gondola was opened on the eve of the holiday (Serbian Statehood Day) - when Dr. Stevanovic warned today there may be an increase in new cases - she said no one got infected while skiing.

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"The gondola has been finished and we need to open it, if we didn't, it doesn't mean people wouldn't come here. People are here anyway and no one got infected while skiing, but they did in cafes. That is why we have strengthened the monitoring in cafes, while the gondola is an example of how things are done because it was completed five months before the deadline," she said.

Stevanovic: Number of new cases expected to increase after the holiday

The number of patients with coronavirus is growing, and thus the need for hospitalization, director of the Clinic for Infectious Diseases Goran Stevanovic said today and announced that during the upcoming state holiday, shifts in Covid clinics will be doubled because examinations are expected to increase.

After the meeting of Minister of Health Zlatibor Loncar with directors of Covid hospitals, Dr. Stevanovic expressed concern over the increase in the number of new cases, that came after a trend of a decline in the number of new patients.

Recalling that KBC Zvezdara and KBC Bezanijska Kosa clinics in Belgrade have exited the Covid system, Stevanovic said that, unfortunately, there is no possibility for some other hospital to switch to the non-Covid regime, i.e., to a regular mode of operation. He also pointed out that patients now exhibit more severe clinical pictures with a more uncertain treatment outcome.

"What worries us are the consequences in the long run, when we talk about Covid, it is up to a week. It has been noticed that a number of infected people have had links with free activities, winter vacations, skiing sporting events, as well as that the discipline is weakening," said Dr. Stevanovic.

He said that now is a turning point - whether the situation will stabilize or worsen, and in that sense he appealed on everyone to respect the measures and give the vaccination time to start acting and protect the population so that we can all return to normal life.

"We know that citizens have had enough of the restrictive measures, all this has been lasting for a year, but the same is true of people who work in the Covid system trying to help everyone, even beyond their capabilities," said Dr. Stevanovic.

He appealed on everyone planning to spend the upcoming weekend and holiday, that is, the four free days, on a mountain, vacationing, to respect the measures. He pointed out that there are no holidays for those who work in the Covid system, and added that shifts have been doubled because a larger number of patients is expected.

In that sense, he once again appealed on everyone to respect the measures and give time to the vaccination that has started, but which needs time to start acting.

(Telegraf.rs)