The start of the school year might be postponed?

The start of the school year might be postponed?

Epidemiologist Branislav Tiodorović said today the medical part of the crisis headquarters might propose delaying the start of the school year by seven days.

He said that in ten days they will assess the epidemic situation.

On the other hand, as Tiodorović stated for Politika, school-age children do not currently fall into the category of those with the highest number of infections from COVID, so the school year could start on September 1.

He added that there is also a proposal to divide classes with 30 students into two parts.

"We have to make the decision about how the schools will function together with the educators. In ten days we will see what the epidemic situation is, so we will make a proposal to postpone the start of the school year by 7 days, because one week means a lot if it can be avoid the shock wave of COVID," Tiodorović told Politika.

Tiodorović said that currently people come from vacation infected with COVID, and that they often do not feel any major discomfort, and they see their relatives, among whom there are also elderly people, which in most cases lead to a more severe clinical picture. However, he pointed out that it can be dangerous for young people with chronic diseases.

"Omicron can also be fatal for younger people who have diabetes or some kind of heart disease. They belong to the vulnerable categories. I am worried because the number of deaths is not falling so quickly. Every day we have between 10 and 15 people who lost their lives due to COVID, and among them as many as 70 to 80 percent are unvaccinated," Tiodorović stressed.

He said that it is important for the elderly and chronically ill to receive the fourth dose of the vaccine, because it will protect them to a large extent from ending up on a ventilator and losing their lives. Tiodorović points out that the measures need to be tightened, because, as he says, he is convinced that there are many patients in Serbia who do not go for testing, because the symptoms are weak or absent.

"In our country, only 50 percent of people have been vaccinated, so we will continue to have the virus in the population. Some will tolerate COVID more easily, and some will face with more difficulties. Even those who have had coronavirus are not resistant to some new strain that will appear. The solution is in the tightening of measures, and at this moment it is recommended to wear masks indoors, which I think should become a mandatory measure, followed by keeping physical distance and washing hands," Tiodorović said.

He added that he expects that in the future, a polyvalent vaccine against COVID that will protect against multiple strains of the virus will be available once a year, and that this will be significant for the most vulnerable categories of the population.