Vucic: It's certain 24-hour curfew in Belgrade will have to start on Friday, not Saturday

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic made a guest appearance on an RTS talk show called Upitnik ("Questionnaire"), where he spoke about Serbia's fight against coronavirus, as well as all other current topics.

He said that he did not think he was either far or close to the decision to introduce 24/7 quarantine, and that the decision would be made by professionals.

"I would not rule out implementing Dr. Predrag Kon's proposal - possibly quarantining Belgrade as the hotspot," said Vucic.

He said that numbers are monitored every day, the percentage of those tested and infected and those who come in with symptoms.

"We will make that decision quickly and efficiently," said Vucic.

He said that it doesn't have to mean that the decision would be communicated to citizens 48 hours before it comes into force.

"It doesn't have to be announced 48 hours ahead of time, I don't think that's much of a problem, that it will last long," said Vucic.

Asked how long the quarantine would last, Vucic said he could not speak about decisions that had not yet even been made.

Asked if citizens would be able to spend Easter with their extended family, Vucic said this would certainly not be possible.

 

 

 

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Predsednik Republike Srbije Aleksandar Vučić gost je emisije #Upitnik na televiziji RTS|1.A post shared by Aleksandar Vučić (@buducnostsrbijeav) on Apr 7, 2020 at 11:11am PDT

Vucic also stated that he did not see what was disturbing in his statement about the possible introduction of quarantine that would last 24 hours a day, because, he repeated, every measure and decision is made to save people's lives.

"I don't think we're either far or close to that decision. We make evaluations on a daily basis, primarily the doctors do. The professionals will make a proposal, and we will make a decision," Vucic told RTS.

He says he doesn't know what in his statement may have upset the public, adding that he is upset every night when he sees how many people are dying and every day when he sees how many infected people there are.

The president said that all measures are being taken to preserve the lives of the people and to avoid having more deaths.

"If life-saving measures make someone anxious, I'm sorry about that, but life takes priority. Each person's life," said Vucic.

He reminded that in his case, both when he was prime minister and today he faced numerous problems, from economic, through the floods, to these happening today.

"People don't elect those who will be afraid to these offices, but those who will make the decisions. I prefer to be attacked and criticized, but that they're able to do that because we saved their lives," said Vucic.

Economic measures

The president of Serbia said that starting April 10, pensions will be paid out in addition to one-time assistance to pensioners in the amount of 4,000 dinars.

He also said that we would have an unemployment problem, but slightly less so than everyone else.

"These are hard times, the whole world is in the worst crisis, much bigger than the previous one. We have not an easy time ahead, but we will try to make it easier than for some others in Europe, but it will not be easy," he said.

Rules on movement and permits for farmers

Asked if it could happen that a farmer returning from their field on a tractor is fined, he said that no normal person would do that.

"I toured the fields to see how sowing is going and all the problems we look to solve as fast as possible. We have a good and hard working (agriculture) minister, and the people themselves go out and do their work. In the villages, the ban (on going outside for the elderly) is 70 years and more, because most farmers are of that age," Vucic said.

The president of Serbia said that he initially called every patient with coronavirus and also spoke with patient zero from Vojvodina.

Vucic also commented on a government decree (about dissemination of information), which was first adopted, but then withdrawn, and said that there was no need to adopt it.

"We must be winning with the truth, by fighting, by being diligent," he said.

Equipment of hospitals

"They look like space shuttles compared to everything you see around the world," Vucic said.

He said so many hospitals and clinics have been renovated, and that he is proud of that.

Vucic said that hospitals are well equipped to have everything, but that as much as they can be equipped, everyone, he says, keeps it in storage.

"In geopolitical matters, it was our job to make do, fight, maintain good relations with everyone and see how to get ourselves out of it alive," he said, commenting on the changes globally when it comes to what the world will look like when the coronavirus epidemic is over.

"We bought 2,200 more ventilators in addition to the 573 distributed"

Serbia has bought about 2,200 more ventilators, in addition to 573 that have already arrived in the country and have been distributed, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said last night.

"About 2,100 to 2,200 ventilators have already been paid for but we don't yet have them in the country. Both Norway has paid and the EU has paid and we do not have them in the country. Because a world turmoil is happening," said Vucic on RTS.

He explained that what happens when Serbia pays for ventilators through the NBS (central bank) that goes through an American bank:

"When they hear that we pay either 35,000 or 45,000, because there is a huge demand in general for clinical ventilators - this correspondent bank holds us for 24 hours asking for additional information, and reporting to its country's services who we are buying from, and then they offer $130,000 for that machine and it ends up with them, and they do it all the time, without canceling our contract. Our money is cleared after 24 hours, and they say it will be 20 days late."

Vucic says that Serbia has a large number of ventilators in our warehouses in certain countries, but that quality standards must be met and the necessary certificates obtained.

This is done through certain companies, which then get 10 times the price than all others, added Vucic.

The president noted that ventilators are also paid in cash, in money bags, and that the state of Serbia has been managing, while a report will be made to the nation once all this is over.

Asked how he commented on the demands that this should be transparent, Vucic said those saying that are projecting because they knew how they would be steal off the people who suffer.

"I fight for people's lives, what abuse, we fight for every ventilator and for people's lives. To steal a dinar set aside for a ventilator? Are the ones who say this normal? To be hearing this from those who support those who bought seven ventilators in 12 years, while we got 573 in 12 days, and say that they will donate 100 euros, having taken hundreds of millions of euros," Vucic said.

"Serbia is on a European path"

"Serbia is on a European path and that is not changing, while China has helped us the most so far. China has donated 100 clinical ventilators to us at the time of our greatest need. Everything else has been: there will be help, help is coming. And so I thank the Norwegian ambassador for trying to get us ventilators," he said, adding that people need to know the truth.

"Curfew is likely to be starting from Friday"

Vucic said that the curfew will most likely last from Friday to Monday morning, instead from Saturday until Monday, and that the measure would certainly be adopted for the cities of Belgrade and Nis.

"I am sure that dozens of times people die less because we brought good measures (...) when we had 8 dead for the first time, but there will be days when there will be more than 8 dead, but the bottom line is that we look at the number of people infected in the larger number of those tested, and in the hotspots, whether we managed to calm people down and isolate them," he said.

Vucic said that about 50 soldiers have been infected and that he feels guilty for telling those people to be on the borders.

"We put so much effort and fight so much that I don't know what I would say to you, if you are resentful of the state over something, tell me openly, it's not a problem for me to answer every question. Tell me what it was that the state did badly and where the state's neglect showed," he said.

The situation at Dedinje

Speaking about the case of the Dedinje Institute, where more than 60 health workers got infected, Vucic said that he blames the director of the institution, Milovan Bojic, because there had to be more caution and attention, to which he received the answer that all measures had been taken, which was not the case.

"What can we do, pick up an ax and chop off his head," Vucic asked.

The president said he did not want to seek excuses for anyone, but that what's most important and what he was again pleading for is to respect the measures.

"I don't waste time and I am not lazy, I fight for the country and the people. Every day we distribute equipment all over Serbia, to hospitals, so that we don't end up like New York, Spain, Italy... and we are succeeding in that," said Vucic.

Asked where patients who were treated at Dedinje will go now, Vucic said they would be treated at that facility, which would quickly get back on his feet, as 12 doctors tested negative for coronavirus and about 108 employees are ready to do their jobs.

"We have no more places in hospitals"

"Whoever goes to the hospital isn't getting out quickly, which is not the case with the Belgrade Fair (field hospital), which is why I said the Fair is the best hospital," stressed the president.

As he said, everyone who is to be treated is coming to Belgrade and there are currently about 65 free ventilators in the Nis Clinical Center.

"Belgrade has 22.9 percent of the population of Serbia, while the percentage of those infected and those treated here who are not from Belgrade is 50 percent. You see the kind of pressure Belgrade is under," said Vucic.

He said the overburdening of the hospitals is a nightmare, while it's not possible to make up new hospitals.

Vucic said new temporary hospitals will have to be opened. All other patients, he said, must be taken over by the VMA because everything has been turned into hospitals for patients with coronavirus.

"Belgrade is still the biggest hotspot"

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said last night that there is some good news, as the latest tests show better percentages in Valjevo.

Vucic told RTS that this means nothing but indicates that things are going in a better direction after several deaths.

He also said that Cuprija is a bit more peaceful, as well as Nis, to a slight degree.

He stressed that Belgrade remains the biggest hotspot for coronavirus.

Vucic said that all initial infections were imported from abroad, as was the case in Valjevo, Cuprija, Kikinda, Nis.

"(It all came from) Milan, Lugano. You have a case of a good man from Kraljevo who came from the Netherlands, who thought his case was mild and that he would be able to endure, but he did not, he died in Kragujevac. Everything we got in Belgrade were initially imported cases, mostly from Italy," he said.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)