What mass testing will look like: Families to be selected randomly, clusters to be detect

Photo: Tanjug/AP

Dr. Darija Kisic-Tepavcevic, Deputy Director of the Batut Institute of Public Health has told TV Prva that coronavirus is no longer unknown to us, that it is here and circulating, and that the number of deaths in the world from Covid-19 still remains lower than the number of seasonal flu-caused deaths.

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Yet, she explained, the measures imposed because of coronavirus were necessary for a number of reasons.

"When a new strain of flu appears, a pandemic occurs. There was a high rate of transmission a high sensitivity of the population and we do not have have a vaccine, so these measures were introduced. When we do not have a vaccine, the only thing we have left are general prevention measures, especially in the beginning, when we said that one of them was keeping physical distance and washing hands, which proved to be effective," she said.

Photo: Tanjug/Serbian government/Slobodan Miljevic

In the future, the doctor stressed, everything will be up to us.

"The key is to keep a distance of two meters between us," the doctor said.

When asked if she was satisfied with the statistics, she said that 193 people dying was something that brings sadness and sorrow over something that could have been prevented.

"We have been able to control this wave epidemically. We have 193 deaths, which is something that hurts, I stress again, but the current course and the dying down of the epidemic shows that we have done a good job," she said.

Mass testing

In order to check what percentage of the population is immune to coronavirus mass testing will be carried out in Serbia on a representative sample.

"The bottom line is that everyone has an equal chance of being selected in that sample. Families have already been selected randomly and will be invited in the coming days. These individuals will be invited to come to the Institute of Public Health and will be notified of the protocol in advance, and of course, they can say 'no'. Written consent is required, they complete questionnaires that don't contain any compromising questions, and blood samples are taken. The observation unit is a household. These individuals will be informed if they have acquired immunity to this virus so far,"the doctor explained.

As she pointed out, the results are very important so that some measures can be corrected if necessary.

"In the next few days, a pilot survey will be conducted on 1,000 of our citizens, to learn our level of immunity, our risk factor, as well as family clusters. If one member is immune, to see if others are as well," said Dr. Kisic-Tepavcevic.

For those over 65 years of age, instead of a ban - expert recommendation

In Serbia the state of emergency will be lifted as of Thursday, and the doctor explained how that will affect Serbian citizens over te age of 65.

"An epidemic of major public health importance has been declared. The declaration itself means that there is a possibility of introducing certain measures that concern the most vulnerable part of the population. There will be no bans for the elderly, instead there will be expert recommendations. They will be able to go out, but the recommendation is not to, until further notice," said Dr. Kisic-Tepavcevic.

(Telegraf.rs)