Dr. Kon: We entered the beginning of the third wave last week, it's hard to believe it will stop

Foto: Tanjug/Dragan Kujundžić

During last week, Belgrade entered the third increase in the number of those infected with coronavirus, or the beginning of the third wave, and it's hard to believe that this will stop and return to the situation from a few weeks ago, says epidemiologist Predrag Kon.

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When asked about the possible reintroduction of a state of emergency and of a police curfew, in case of a large number of infected people, Kon said that this is a constant question, but that he does not known the answer to it.

"There are legal dilemmas, I don't know the answer," Kon told TV Pink.

He remarked that we are now entering a situation when restrictive measures will be mentioned more and more often, because in the next two weeks we can really expect a serious increase and spread of this virus not only in Belgrade but in the whole of Serbia.

He explained that what awaits us in a natural flow, while that it depends on the implementation of preventive measures whether we will be able to slow down that natural flow.

Kon said that we will probably have less than 100 newly infected people today, but that it is because fewer patients come for testing on Saturdays and Sundays.

"Real numbers will start arriving only from Tuesday," says Kon and adds that the increase in the number of infected people depends on whether or not preventive measures are carried out, which refer to wearing protective masks, keeping distance and maintaining hand hygiene.

He said that the epidemic is starting to pick up pace across Europe and that we are approaching winter when transmission of all viruses is dominant, while we will be in trouble if we do not understand the importance of preventive measures at this moment.

Kon says that if the import of the virus into schools is suddenly very high, then there will be serious problems related to teachers getting sick, so at some point in November, it may be more rational to think about temporary shutting down of schools.

He remarked that at this moment, these large collectives with thousands of workers may be more important, because it seems that no measures are being implemented, so it's important to pay special attention to the transport of workers, since that was earlier the most common way of transmitting coronavirus.

Asked about the drug remdesivir, which is used against Covid-19 and which is available to patients in Serbia starting today, Kon said that the attitude of infectologists is not to talk about the effects of treatment in the media.

He said that the tenth protocol in treatment is already coming and that the complex way of treatment that is recommended is constantly being improved upon.

(Telegraf.rs)