What life in Serbia will look like starting today: 7 new anti-coronavirus measures are in force

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New measures against coronavirus are coming into force in Serbia today, and based on them, starting today, our lives are divided into opening hours until 6 pm and until 9 pm, work from home and work from the office. Only the decision on whether children will study at home or in the classroom is still awaited.

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Namely, the Government of Serbia prescribed seven new measures on Saturday, which came into force this morning, and will be valid for the next ten days, more precisely until Thursday, December 3.

Measure 1 - shortening opening hours of hospitality facilities

The first among the measures is the reduction of opening hours until 6 pm of restaurants, cafes, bars, clubs, betting parlors and shopping malls.

For now, the decision also applyies to cinemas and theaters, which must shut their doors down by 6 pm, although Minister of Culture Maja Gojkovichas  sent an appeal to the Crisis HQ to exclude these places from the new package of measures.

Measure 2 - Stores to still stay open until 9 pm

As before, grocery stores will continue to work until 9 pm, which was prescribed in the previous package of measures.

Measure 3 - Masks are mandatory outdoors as well in certain situations

It is also obligatory to use personal protective equipment, i.e. to wear a protective mask indoors, as well as outdoors in those situations where interpersonal contacts cannot be avoided.

Measure 4 - Ban of gathering more than 5 people

There is a ban on all public gatherings with the presence of more than 5 people, indoors and outdoors. Excluded from this measure are work organizations, schools, stores, shopping malls and similar facilities, which are subject to a limit on the number of persons present at all times related to the square footage of the premises - that is, a minimum of 4 square meters per person must be provided.

Measure 5 - Work from home

The government has also prescribed that all employees whose work process allows it should work from home.

Measure 6 - Control of mask wearing in public transport

A measure of strict control of the obligation to wear a protective mask in public transport vehicles has been introduced, with a limit on the maximum number of passengers in the vehicle set to half its declared capacity.

Measure 7 - Control of at home isolation

Among the new measures is strict control of the implementation of at home isolation, house quarantine (self-isolation), as well as all other anti-epidemic measures that are in force.

Photo: Tanjug/Sava Radovanovic

City transport in Belgrade

On Monday, the Belgrade Crisis HQ met and decided how city transport in the capital will function.

This means that the recommended number of 50 passengers will be displayed on the front door for single buses, i.e. 50 percent of the maximum number, depending on the type of vehicle.

The afternoon rush hour, when there are more vehicles and more frequent departures, will be extended to 8 pm.

Citizens should assess if there is a crowd in public transport, and wait for another vehicle to come by. There will be no stewards banning passengers from entering. Everyone who has a ticket has the right to a ride," Jovica Vasiljevic, secretary for public transport, told Novosti.

All carriers, both private companies and the GSP, have received instructions and will respect the new regime, i.e. have more vehicles in the streets in the afternoon rush hour, says the secretary.

However, Mayor Zoran Radojicic told RTS that the Communal Police will be constantly on the ground, and that they will be visiting bus stops with 15 patrols to control the implementation of these measures.

Vehicle disinfection will be done constantly.

Students distance learning

Not a small number of schools in Serbia has already switched to online classes, and it is expected that this will start to apply to the whole of Serbia at any moment.

Photo: Tanjug/AP

Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development Branko Ruzic said this morning that the Crisis HQ is the reference for recommendations, while the government will make decisions. He also explained that units of local self-government where an emergency situation is introduced are under obligation to inform competent school administrations if they want to switch to online classes.

"Schools are not closed, they can switch online, the idea of ​​unifying the calendars of the province of Vojvodina with the rest of Serbia in terms of holidays is being mentioned - to have the holidays season from December 21 until January 20 to cover all holidays," Ruzic pointed out for RTS.

Crisis Staff members: Effects of measures in 7 to 10 days

Epidemiologist and member of the Crisis HQ for the fight against coronavirus virus Predrag Kon said that he expected these measures to give results and said that it was important for everyone to wear masks because, due to a large number of asymptomatic cases, it's impossible to know who is contagious.

Kon said that the medical portion of the HQ was unanimous and that the proposed measures were far stricter than what has been adopted. He explained that this refers not only to setting closing time to 5 pm (instead of 6 pm, which was adopted), but also to service activities, while the number of proposed points was higher.

He stressed that the measures were proposed as something that is very urgent, but are starting to be applied only today.

However, he said that a slowdown of the virus can be witnessed especially in Belgrade, but that it remains to be seen whether this will continue or start to drop. According to him, we are now at a maximum, at least as far as Belgrade is concerned, and now we need to endure because he hopes that the new measures will really give results.

"We will monitor the situation daily," said Predrag Kon.

Immunologist Srdja Jankovic said that they were trying to stabilize the situation with the new package of measures, and that the emphasis was not on closing after 6 pm, but on citizens adhering to the measures 24 hours a day.

Initial results of the measures, he said, can be expected in seven to ten days, and the most important thing is still to wear masks, keep the distance and not gather in groups.

"The medical part of the crisis HQ proposed introducing new measures even earlier. If necessary, we will strive for additional tightening of measures, but at this moment it's much more important that they are implemented. If we had implemented those measures more rigorously, maybe the curve would be a shade different. There is no substitute for avoiding contact," said Jankovic.

(Telegraf.rs)