Pulmonologist: Progressives' Rally Included People Infected with Covid

Serbian Progressive Party convention (BETAPHOTO/EMIL VAS/EV)

Pulmonologist Dejan Zujovic has stated that the Serbian Progressive Party convention held at the Belgrade Arena on Nov. 27 had gathered about 20,000 people, many of whom had tested positive for the coronavirus.

On Nov. 29, Zujovic told BETA that Progressive party activists from Vranje coerced Yumco employees into attending the rally by threatening their jobs, although many of those employees were infected with Covid-19.

"Even people who are not members of the [Progressives] were driven to the Arena gathering by bus. I spoke to people from Vranje who work at Yumco, and they were forced to head for Belgrade although infected, simply so that the local Progressive party committee could meet their assigned quota for attendance," Zujovic maintained.

The lung doctor said he is afraid that the Progressives' convention will have catastrophic repercussions on the epidemic situation in the entire country. "It is unacceptable and irresponsible to organize an indoor gathering of 20,000 people, especially without any anti-epidemic measures in place, and then to bring infected people to that gathering to boot. This is a glaring example of the government's arrogance and disinterest in the health of the people," Zujovic said.

According to him, experience has proven that the driving force in the spread of Covid in Serbia has been the political egotism of the country's president and Progressive party leader, Aleksandar Vucic. "This would be a normal country if only a single communal police officer [dared to] cite Vucic for violating the anti-epidemic measures of the past 20 months. Not once has the president of this country given the Serbian people a [proper] example of how to act during the pandemic. He wears a mask when he goes abroad, but in Serbia he acts like a haughty outlaw overlord who contributes significantly to spreading the virus," Zujovic concluded.