The number of viruses is still growing in Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) – Serbia is expected to introduce partial tickets for COVID-19 on Saturday, while Croatia and Slovenia have reported high daily infection rates as countries with low vaccination rates face a steady rise in the virus.
Serbia has been recording thousands of news stories and more than 50 deaths every day for weeks, in a country of 7 million, where about half of adults have been completely stabbed and tens of thousands have received restorative doses.
On Saturday, authorities reported an additional 6,748 new infections in the past 24 hours and 60 deaths due to COVID-19. The Balkan nation has confirmed more than a million infections and nearly 10,000 deaths since the pandemic began.
Experts have sharply criticized the government’s decision to introduce COVID-19 indoor tickets only from 10pm, saying the move was too late and that tougher measures were needed to curb the wild virus.
“This is scandalous and much too late,” retired epidemiologist Zoran Radovanovic told N1 television.
The Serbian government initially refused to impose any measures and urged people to get vaccinated instead. Face masks were mandatory indoors in the Balkan country, but there were no restrictions on gathering or working in nightclubs, bars or restaurants.
From Saturday night, visitors will be required to present COVID-19 cards indicating vaccination, a negative test, or that they have recovered from the disease in the past seven months. Officials said more than 2,000 inspections will monitor whether the new rules are being implemented.
The situation with the virus is also worrying in other Central and Eastern European countries, where vaccination coverage is lower than the European Union average. Romania has approved a tightening of the rules since Monday, as hospitals have filled up and infections have reached record numbers.
Slovenia announced on Saturday that the number of confirmed daily cases in a country with a population of around 2 million had reached its highest level in nine months and a positivity rate of around 30%. In Slovenia, 53% of the population of 53 million are fully vaccinated. Just over 5,000 people died from COVID-19.
Croatia is also reporting an increase in daily new cases to more than 3,500 in recent days – the daily number of confirmed cases has increased by 1,600 since last week, authorities said.
The government has so far introduced COVID-19 passes for health and social workers, but not for the general population. On Saturday, Interior Minister Davor Božinović called on citizens to get vaccinated – vaccination is around 50% in Croatia as well.
“Vaccination is the best solution on a global scale and we all need to help those citizens who still have doubts to opt for it,” he said.
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