"Next week will be very difficult"

"Next week will be very difficult"

He estimated that next week will be very difficult, but that there will be a slight calming down at the end of the week.

Tiodorović said on RTS that the epidemiological situation in Serbia is very serious, extraordinary, and in some parts of Serbia, especially in big cities, it is catastrophic.

"From the point of view of hospital capacity, from the point of view of the death rate, which is very high - we are in a situation where it is very important to be aware of the overall movement, organization and concentration on jobs that the health system should do, but also everyone else", Tiodorovic said.

He added that the country is in a situation when it has to be determined what is more important at this moment, and pointed out that health is the most important, even at the cost of the economy.

"Nothing terrible will happen to the economy if it faces with 10, 15 days of complete lockdown until we gain control over the situation," Tiodorović believes.

He estimates that a return to normal life is possible only when the vaccine arrives.

"There are indications that we will get it quite quickly. But it will not be the quantities that will cover large number of people, but it will go according to priority. We are fully ready for the vaccine arrival as well as to preserve, transport and apply it", Tiodorovic said.

He said that everyone must be aware that all these measures will have to be maintained.

"I expect that the entire system of preserving these measures, vaccinations must last until the spring, and with that vaccination and raising of collective immunity, we will be able to reach a completely controlled situation," Tiodorović emphasized.

When asked if the health care system will survive, he says that the medical staff is the biggest problem.

"Everything else can be provided, the state has done a lot here. But what is very difficult and what is not created overnight, what takes time, are staff - doctors, nurses, technicians. We must expect that there will be more problems, but I think that the health care system is fighting heroically and in very difficult conditions", Tiodorović concluded.