Expert Says Crisis Headquarters Never Lost Control of Epidemic

Darija Kisic Tepavcevic /Beta/Serbina Government/Slobodan Miljevic)

Batut Institute deputy director Darija Kisic Tepavcevic said on July 21 that the Crisis Headquarters had never lost control of the fight to curb the coronavirus epidemic in Serbia.

Asked whether she felt responsible for a jump in infections as a result of the relaxation of measures and permission for holding sports events in front of audiences, elections and numerous celebrations she said that officials relaxed measures because the epidemiological situation in Serbia, but also elsewhere in the world, allowed this.

"All of measures were brought according to indicators. Nothing should be hidden nor was it. When there were no new cases we shut down covid hospitals. At every moment, every decision that we brought was based on indicators which were transparent and we think that our actions then and now are in the best interest of the health of our citizens," Darija Kisic Tepavcevic said.

When asked by a journalist if Serbia was negotiating a vaccine with Great Britain, China and Russia, Kisic Tepavcevic said that Serbia had started negotiations on time that no vaccine was ready yet and that that was a lengthy process, but that, once a vaccine was safe, Serbia would be one of the first to procure it.