Kon talks about curfew and new state of emergency: There is no alternative, we will not sit idly by

Photo: Tanjug/Strahinja Acimovic

Epidemiologist Predrag Kon, a member of the Crisis HQ set up to combat coronavirus, told RTS this morning that far stricter measures had been requested for the past weekend simply in order to understand the situation and break the transmission chain. He said there is no alternative to a state of emergency and a curfew.

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"It's a measure that protects lives and that is what must be said publicly," Dr. Kon stated, and added:

"The proposal is that contacts that are protected must be banned, otherwise we are done for, so only then will it become clear what it's like when the healthcare care system breaks down. We have nothing else to suggest. We are a part of the state and we have an obligation to continue working. It's completely clear what our position is. If introducing a curfew is not accepted, we will continue to work in such circumstances. It must be understood that this is no longer some game, so that people can continue to move around. As long as someone is in the red zone, and simply this can't go on like this, it can't, that must be stressed. It has to be stopped. And the only way to stop it is to propose what we have proposed."

He noted that presence of the British strain has been proven in Serbia, and pointed out that it is interesting that we do not want to listen about what is happening in other countries, and that is that this strain has a far stronger potential.

"It will be transmitted much stronger and faster. I expect that to become evident soon. It doesn’t dominate yet, but it will. We can no longer sit idly by. Yesterday, we asked for the same as we did last weekend, to extend the measures to seven days. When opening hours are limited on weekends, crowds form, which is counterproductive. All the measures that concerned shortening the opening hours had led to illegal gatherings, as we can see. And now nothing can be done except a state of emergency," said Dr. Kon:

"When we asked for curfew to be introduced, they told us that's unconstitutional, so that automatically means a state of emergency. Curfew can be around the clock and time-limited. There was no talk about that. The decision on whether there will be a state of emergency is very important. A group of ten doctors cannot decide on a state of emergency. We presented what is necessary. This situation is not a game. Vaccination is at risk. The same people who were in the red zone are now working on vaccinations. Exhaustion is beyond all bounds. That can no longer be tolerated."

The current numbers (of new daily cases) are a consequence of winter vacationing, which he said they warned about back in December.

"We were warning all the time. As for the ski resorts, I must say that before the winter break in December, we said that they should not have an occupancy rate higher than 30 percent. That was not done. We mentioned it. We simply stressed all that, but it's obvious that personal responsibility that we are constantly invoking is worth nothing and in such a situation a person feels frustrated. Inspectors who are falling off their feet working in the field cannot do their job, either. People don't understand that this is a deadly disease. No one understands when it is said that the virus is in circulation."

(Telegraf.rs)