741 persons infected,13 die in Serbia

Virus test (Beta/STA/Rosana Rijavec)

The Serbian Ministry of Health reported on March 29 that 82 new cases of coronavirus had been established, raising the total to 741.

Deputy director of the Batut Institute, Darija Kisic Tepavcevic, said on March 29 that over the past 24 hours three more people died, and that the number of coronavirus victims had risen to 13. She added that after two negative tests, over 50 infected people were deemed free of the virus.

Epidemiologist Predrag Kon said on March 29 that the authorities in Serbia had been making their decisions in together with the medical profession, and that physicians would support any decision to reduce social contacts.

Dr Kon also said that in the next few days a sharp rise in the number of infected persons could be expected, and that Belgrade's temporary hospital at the Belgrade Fair was the best solution that Serbia had come up with. The doctor also explained that the professional opinion was that pet owners could walk their pets in the evening but that the government had decided against that, after an earlier decision to allow evening walks was abused.

"We make decisions together, but not all of them. The government was given a carte blanche for any decision to reduce social contact. Today (March 29) is the 24th day of the pandemic, and we are entering a phase in which there was a sharp increase in the number of infected people, and later deaths in other countries. Our decisions now have to be energetic, without any hesitation," Dr Kon said.