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It is impossible to prevent the virus from entering schools. That is simply impossible. Just as it is impossible to imagine that a child will not come into contact with the virus, whether she has gone to school or not. If you are in school and if you wear a mask and the measurements are respected, that probability is incomparably less than being completely alone.
In an interview for “Blic” before the start of the new school year, epidemiologist and crisis staff member Predrag Kon asks parents, students and all employees in education to be cautious and sane due to the Covid pandemic. 19.
There is a group of parents promoting a boycott of masks. How do you comment on that?
– Parents have the right not to send their children to school for one month. After that, it will not conflict with me, but with the law. It is not necessary to create conflicts. In the end, the children of those parents will be in trouble if they just listen to the online classes. I did not say that. The Minister of Education, Mladen Šarčević, mentioned that there are other ways, various disciplinary procedures, etc. I wish you all the best, I think you are very wrong and that schools are very safe places. A much bigger problem is that we, for example, do not recognize cafes as insufficiently safe places, while we see schools that are fully prepared for this situation as unsafe places. In addition, now that the number of returnees from abroad is increasing, with the irresponsible behavior that we have noticed that exists, there will be a great manipulation if a greater number of infected is connected with the beginning of the work of the schools. Because the schools will be under strict supervision.
How do you assess the current situation?
– The epidemiological situation is still uncertain and will be uncertain throughout the period. The probability that the number of patients will drop to zero is slowly disappearing. Perhaps that number drops to zero in local areas, but at the level of the whole of Serbia, that probability is now lower. In that precarious situation, any mistake can bring us back and make the situation worse. In any case, the situation is much more favorable than a few weeks ago, it is calming down and we no longer have that record of cases. For example, in Belgrade, there were 150 tests at covid clinics on Sunday, and only seven of them were positive for covid. That’s the best result since June 1, when we only had four positives. Therefore, the situation is slowly calming down and that was expected before the start of the school year.
Do you expect an increase in the number of patients?
– I do not expect a significant increase in the number of infected in September. If that happens, it will only be at the end of the month or in the second half. Although we constantly think that we are not doing well enough, we have very clear warnings about the entry of our citizens into the country. Very clear warnings for children if they come from countries where the presence of the virus is high to avoid starting school until a full 10 days have passed since the day of return. Everything reached the public. Second, I hope that no one conscientiously allows themselves to carry the infection and does not show up at the Kovid clinic in a situation where their child is going to school. If your child starts going to school, he should be healthy too. If he is not healthy, the child should not go to school. If someone in the house is sick, the child does not go to school. And that should be well defined. I do not expect there to be a major increase as this continues to subside. For any increase to occur, this tendency to calm must first be usurped and stopped, and then the epidemiological curve must rise slowly. That is not impossible. But I don’t expect that during this month, maybe just at the end of the month.
The flexibility of the measures has begun. Is there a danger that June will happen again?
– Extending the work of cafes to one hour from midnight and shops until 11 at night is the only relaxation of measures, and we had nine requests. We rejected the Fair, we rejected many other important things. Why do we extend the coffee work with the garden? It doesn’t matter who voted, I personally was against it, but the decision was made. It will run until one o’clock, but that doesn’t mean until two or three. This does not mean that clubbing is allowed. You can listen to music, it is not a problem at a distance with the provision of such an event. But singing, jumping and playing contribute directly to the increase in the number of infected people.
Last weekend, we had cases of violations of measures in proceedings. Will there be a penalty?
– I expect a serious and energetic reaction from the state. Respect for all people, there are not so many important actors here, the organizers who knowingly violated all epidemiological decisions are important. If something like this happens, there is no doubt that we will return to the situation of the massive appearance of this disease. These indoor places where lots of singing, playing games and loud music are played are proven venues for super transmission of the virus. Finding one in a room so it’s infected will make 15 to 20 people sick. This has been proven both in our country and in the world. This must be avoided. It is important to say that this is not done against any person, but whoever ignores that hundreds of lives were saved with respirators with the maximum involvement of doctors, whoever completely ignores the situation in which the whole world finds itself should be punished . The state must find ways to do it. I have information that so far there have been sanctions for violating the measures, but those are smaller numbers. This is the basic and most difficult phase of the pandemic. We slowly enter autumn and winter. All of this has so far been an opening to the main period in which we need to control ourselves as much as possible and make sure that the virus is as little as possible in circulation. When there is so little in the circulation, treatment results are much better.
The number of patients in the region is increasing and the situation in our country is calming down. What are we best at?
– We relax earlier, we peak earlier. And we manage exclusively and only with a protective mask, distance and hygiene to bring it back to a level that is still unsafe, but acceptable. They will also return. The only question is when and in what way? We need to look, above all, at ourselves. There are no competitions here. This is an attack on all of humanity. It is equally important that there are as few patients as possible in Croatia. It is important for Croatia, but also for us. The same is true of all other countries in the region. When we have a situation like this, it is normal for us to take care of ourselves first. We have introduced these mandatory test measures for everyone coming from the red zone, with the exception of Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is solely for political reasons. We have students, we have special connections, many of our citizens are there and we cannot ignore that. The epidemiological situation must be monitored, all warnings must be given. We need to have the safest situation at the beginning of the school year.
How much trouble will the respiratory infection season bring?
These masks will also reduce our respiratory infections, but they will still be there and no one says there will not be a further increase in the need for pediatricians. Because there will be common respiratory infections that usually appear at the beginning of school. The number of recorded respiratory infections decreased during the summer. Almost half, 40 percent. In the second half of September, the number of acute respiratory infections increased to 15,000 per week in Belgrade. That won’t happen now because of the masks.
I am skeptical that the vaccine will arrive at the end of the year.
When do you expect the vaccine to arrive in Serbia?
I must say that vaccines will not be able to give the highest level of protection in any case. That is not to be expected. There will be no ideal vaccine or the best possible one. But there will be vaccines available and they are likely to be highly or sufficiently effective. The Agency for Medicines and Health Products is a regulatory body that has total independence in accordance with the Medicines Law. The agency is used to drug manufacturers contacting them to register. This time it won’t happen. Much greater agility is needed from both the state and the agencies themselves. Why? Because the demand for vaccines is high. The big question is whether anyone will want to send a registration request to a little Serbia. That is something to think about. Serbia has strict rules regarding registration. If the vaccine is expected to arrive as soon as possible, then the registration procedure should start as soon as possible. The fastest procedure takes two months. Optimists say the vaccine will arrive by the end of the year. I am skeptical.I would love to be denied.
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