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The New Year is only a week away and there is much speculation in the public that epidemiological measures around this holiday could be relaxed. However, that is not an option for the medical side of crisis personnel.
For days, dissonant tones can be heard in public when it comes to new measures for the holidays, so each crisis staff session is viewed from two angles: the medical and the financial.
Apparently, the votes that reach the citizens are not uniform, so the sessions usually end with silence and long-term reconsideration. Will it be the same on Friday, when a new meeting of those who make decisions and walk on the edge of the fight against the corona virus is announced?
Dissonant pressures and tones
It is clear that there is a lot of pressure on the part of those who have small or medium-sized companies to relax, because they are certainly in the biggest economic blow during the corona virus epidemic.
The flexibility of measures has already been achieved to a certain extent in the previous days, since from Monday the restaurant facilities are open until 8:00 p.m., instead of the previous 5:00 p.m.
The pressure on the Serbian Government to make such decisions will undoubtedly increase even more if the number of newly infected people decreases, although the fact is that the epidemiological situation is far from good.
The fact is that the number of crowns infected with the virus has dropped, from almost 8,000 infected to 3,000 a day. But, it is also a fact that those lower numbers are huge, because let us remind you what they say: “We are not descending from Avala, but from the Himalayas.”
In previous waves in Serbia, the easing of measures was when the number dropped to less than 100, which only shows that we are far from a favorable epidemiological situation.
Dr. Kon:
However, these days, experts on both sides are talking about the best thing to do.
Thus, the epidemiologist Dr. Predrag Kon said in a statement for “Blic” that the medical part was never to alleviate the measures.
– It should be clear that the crisis staff did not support any relaxation of the measures. Some other elements just prevailed. The medical part is related to the capacity of the hospitals. Of the 9,000 people hospitalized, about 1,000 are in intensive care, while more than 300 have been intubated and are in a direct struggle for life. Therefore, until the critical moment passes, we do not believe that the measures should relax – said Kon for “Blic”.
Asked directly about what we can expect in the Crisis Staff session announced for Friday, when these relaxed measures expire on Monday, regarding measures for the future and the new year, the epidemiologist responds:
– As long as there is no change in the condition, the medical part will insist that the measures not be relaxed, that they go back to the old and that the existing ones are implemented to the maximum – our expert was clear.
It should be remembered that the Crisis Staff came out fully with the fact that the measures of the restoration facilities are limited to five days until 8:00 p.m., that is, until Friday, December 25, when they will evaluate again if they can stay that way or return to previous work for 17 hours. According to Dr. Kona’s statement, a return to the old work regimen is to be expected in the new session, if the “medical wing” is successful.
Jankovic: We will put red lines that we will not cross
Immunologist and crisis staff member Srdja Jankovic told RTS that doctors did not see the possibility of significant easing of measures, nor did they see the possibility of celebrating the New Year like any New Year with dangerous gatherings.
– The medical part of the Crisis Staff will mark certain red lines that we will not cross in the flexibility of the measures, we must not endanger the joint anti-epidemic effort, we will discuss how to better measure the measures, be as restrictive as necessary and nothing more and what exactly it meant was a topic of discussion in real time, we are monitoring the situation day by day – noted Janković.
He says this is not the time to think about giving in because the situation has not started to improve any further.
– We hope that next year will be better in the health part, that we will see the pandemic give way in spring, that the issue opens up quickly, vaccination can help make it more visible, but we hope that the next waves of epidemics in others countries begin to weaken – concluded is Jankovic.
Big losses for the economy
However, on the other hand, the economic part of the Crisis Staff has different ideas and, with due respect for people’s health, they hope that the measures will be relaxed so that entrepreneurs can get out of this situation.
– The economy and crisis personnel are part of the same team in the fight for Serbia to overcome the pandemic as well as possible, and this decision to relax the measures shows that – said the president of the PKS, Marko Čadež.
He presented data that our largest stores, which do not include grocery stores, cosmetics and small stores, suffered great damage from store closings during December, which is the best month of the year when it comes to sales.
– In December last year, we had a turnover of 23 billion dinars, and only when we talk about the sale of toys, equipment, clothes and shoes for children. We will see at the end of the month what results we will have this December, but according to the first surveys, we see that the turnover is lower by up to 50 percent due to the current restrictions on the work of stores and shopping centers. Without a doubt, this will affect the business of our companies – said Chadez.
The president of PKS emphasized that all businessmen are in favor of the rigorous application of all measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Chadez said only 2.5 percent of store employees are absent from work due to the virus, showing how much employees and store owners are sticking to the measures.
Yesterday’s statement by Dr. Predrag Kon on the environment in the sessions also shows that the attitudes of both are at odds.
– There are some things that are completely unreal. Someone who thinks about celebrating the New Year is unrealistic. I’d like everyone to celebrate it nicely, but that’s not realistic – Kon explained.
He says he’s interested in who will insist on Crisb’s headquarters for the New Year’s celebrations.
“The medical part did not support any concession. We were not in favor of this. There are other arguments of PKS, the city of Belgrade and they must be respected. When I hear their arguments, it gives me chills, like when they hear the arguments of the medical part “said epidemiologist Predrag today. Kon.
What will happen on Friday, when we already have differences of opinion, is completely uncertain.
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