Immunologist: Experts Surprised with Timing of New Epidemic Wave

Dr Srdja Jankovic (Beta/Serbian Government/Slobodan Miljevic)

Immunologist Srdja Jankovic has said that that the imposition of more restrictive countermeasures would be considered, if the measures, effective as of June 29, primarily in Belgrade, did not produce the expected results.

Jankovic told TV Pink on June 29, that latest decisions of the Epidemic Response Team aimed at tightening the countermeasures with legal obligations and control. He added that possible restrictions on the work hours for night clubs and cafes would be considered in a meeting of the team.

He added that the coronavirus was present among the population and had enough potential to cause harm to the citizens. “All this time, we have been aware that the epidemic has not been over, although we reasonably hoped to be Covid-free in the summer. We are now going through the second wave of phase one, precisely, the fourth week, and based on model, we can expect it to last six to eight weeks,” Jankovic noted.

He added that experts were surprised with the timing of the new epidemic wave. “We were not expecting it yet as UV indexes and high temperature partially do not accommodate the virus, the summer weather conditions reduce the transmission of the virus, and the epidemic was subsiding, but as we can see, Serbia is not the only country facing the second wave of phase one,” Jankovic specified.