The session of the Crisis Staff is awaited, but one measure is certain

The session of the Crisis Staff is awaited, but one measure is certain

For now, one measure is certain, the one concerning the extension of the autumn school holidays, and when it comes to other measures that are proposed and which concern COVID pass, limitation of working hours and number of people at gatherings, positions of medical and political part of the staff are still distant.

The number of newly infected people on a daily basis in Serbia has not dropped below 6.000 for seven weeks, so the medical part of the Crisis Staff announces that they will continue to insist on tightening measures, while the Prime Minister says that "existing measures should be fully implemented for now." Therefore, most likely, only the decision will be made at this session to extend the autumn break for students, so the students will have a break of nine days instead of four, writes "Euronews".

During the last two sessions, doctors from the medical part of the Crisis Staff insisted on tightening the measures in order to stop the spread of the virus. They demanded the introduction of COVID passes, that the working hours of service activities, which are not of essential importance, be shortened to 5 p.m., and that the allowed number of people in one place be reduced from 500 to five.

At the last session of the Crisis Staff, it was agreed to introduce COVID passes in all catering facilities after 10 p.m. The implementation of this measure started on Saturday, October 23. The caterers and guests had two days to adjust, and the collection of fines started on October 25. Many caterers have shortened their working hours to 22 hours in order to avoid paying fines, because their employees do not have a pass.

Epidemiologist and member of the Crisis Staff Predrag Kon says that more restrictive measures are needed in order to protect the unvaccinated, to overcome the period when the virus is maximally in the circulation. He emphasized that the validity of COVID passes after 10 p.m. "is not and will not be able to prove sufficient" and pointed out that without serious more restrictive measures, there will be no sudden decline in the number of new patients.

"The medical part of the Crisis Staff demands that the COVID pass be valid for 24 hours and there is no division on that issue, the entire medical part fully supports that," Kon told Tanjug. He stated that the doctors from the Crisis Staff are also asking for the working hours to be shortened to 5 p.m. for everything that is not essential, and after five, only grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies would work.

The answer to the medical part of the Crisis Staff came from the top of the state. Prime Minister Ana Brnabić said on Wednesday, October 27, that for now, there will be no extension of the validity of COVID passes to 24 hours. She said in Kragujevac that the vaccination against coronavirus is a response to the pandemic and that "there is, slowly, growth - we have exceeded 55% of the vaccinated." Asked whether measures against the epidemic would be tightened, Prime Minister of Serbia stated that "for now, the existing measure should be fully implemented."

"At the same time, we are going again with strict inspections for other measures, for masks indoors and outdoors, where it is impossible to keep a distance," said Brnabic, who is also the head of the Crisis Staff for the fight against the coronavirus.

Extension of school holidays

It is most certain that at the next session of the Crisis Staff, only a decision will be made on the extension of the autumn vacation. Namely, pediatricians demanded that all students switch to online classes for 10 days, because the number of infected children increased, and there are children in this wave who ended up on respirators. As the autumn break approaches, which according to the school calendar is planned for November 11 and 12, it has been proposed to extend it for three working days.

At the meeting of the representatives of the medical part of the Crisis Staff, the School Team - consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and the Batut Institute, the possibility of extending the vacation for three days - November 8, 9 and 10, was discussed. In that way, students would have a nine-day break, which coincided with the pediatrician's requests.

The only measure that was introduced in the new wave of the coronavirus, which started in August, was the introduction of COVID passes in all catering facilities after 10 p.m. The new measure will apply from October 23. A valid COVID pass implies confirmation of the vaccine received. For those who have not been vaccinated, a valid COVID certificate is also a negative PCR test not older than 72 hours, a negative antigen test that is not older than 48 hours.

A COVID pass can also be a certificate of being infected with COVID-19 that is not older than seven months, as well as a certificate of a positive antibody test (IgG), not older than three months, which was done in a state laboratory. The COVID pass is not a certificate obtained after vaccination, but a digital green certificate that can be obtained through eGovernment in electronic form. For those who are not skilled with the technique, they can also get a digital green certificate at the Post office counters.