April 17, 2020 - The COVID-19 patient from Plav, who was hospitalized at Berane General Hospital, lost his battle with the coronavirus this morning, and is the fifth victim in Montenegro. After the analysis of 31 samples, no new cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed today. So far, 303 cases have been reported, of which 243 are still infectious, 34 hospitalized, five have died, and 55 have recovered.
Tomorrow walking allowed until 7 pm; shops open until 6 pm
The National Infectious Disease Coordination Body (NKT) agreed at yesterday's meeting to allow work until 6 pm on Saturday, April 18 to pharmacies, food, beverage and hygiene facilities, specialized facilities for the sale of baby equipment, construction products, plant protection products, and planting materials, animal nutrition, and treatment products, agricultural machinery, and funeral equipment.
Tomorrow will be allowed to be out of the housing premises from 5 am to 7 pm.
NKT explained they decided so taking into account the increased need for citizens to spend Easter holidays with their families and considering the epidemiological risk of crowding in retail outlets, NKT explained.
About ten percent of citizens do not follow the measures
At present, the National Coordination Body for Infectious Diseases is breathing, Dr. Boban Mugosa, Director of the Institute of Public Health, emphasized that there is a percentage of citizens who respect the introduced measures, and those measures will be tightened if necessary.
"About 10% of you who follow the rules shows that you value yourself, your neighbors, and friends. These 90% of citizens who respect the measures suffer because of these 10%. Regardless of the measures imposed by the competent authorities, it happens again that some citizens do not want to obey the rules. Then the number of infected people grows as well as the number of patients that end up hooked to the fans and those that die", says Mugosa.
Extension of more measures to combat the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic by May 2
Based on a proposal from the Institute of Public Health, the National Coordination Body last night gave its consent to the extension of a number of measures, which had been implemented before expiration. The following provisional measures to combat the COVID-19 epidemic were extended until May 2:
1) Prohibition of entry of all cruisers and yachts into ports: Bar, Budva, Kotor, Port Kumbor - Portonovi, Tivat (Gat I and Gat II), and Zelenika.
2) prohibition of gatherings of the population in indoor and outdoor public and private places
3) prohibition of visits to persons undergoing hospital treatment in health institutions and persons accommodated in social and child care institutions;
4) prohibition of visits to persons deprived of their liberty and detained persons, except for lawyers and court experts, at the discretion of the court, and prohibition of visits to persons in prison;
5) suspension of educational work in public and private educational institutions.
6) closure of the majority of border crossings for passenger border traffic towards Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Croatia and Serbia
7) prohibition of travel for citizens of Montenegro to Japan, France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Austria;
8) placing under the sanitary supervision of returnees/passengers in international traffic from:
Japan, France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Slovenia, Austria;
9) suspension of public transportation of passengers in the international road, rail, and air traffic except charter transport organized for the return of Montenegrin citizens to Montenegro and foreign nationals to the country of origin, with the consent of the National Infectious Diseases Coordination Body
Operational headquarters for the tourism industry formed
The NKT has formed the Operational Headquarters for the Tourism Economy to assist Montenegrin tourism in overcoming the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This body, as stated, will consist of representatives of the Ministries of Sustainable Development and Tourism and Transport and Maritime Affairs, as well as the National Tourism Organization, the Airport of Montenegro, the Public Company Marine Property, the Montenegrin Tourism Association, the Police Directorate and the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro.
Begić: Funerals and family gatherings are ways to spread COVID-19 in Montenegro
With a population of around 630,000 people, Montenegro could be a relatively easy task for epidemiologists.
"We can get the flu with the epidemic in one municipality or one country - the time is all we need - but it is all in your case if the epicenter of infection is still around. This is not the one country must render decision. We are all dependent on each other, and n a global level is united now," said Dr. Senad Begic, assistant director of the Institute for Public Health.
"Montenegro has the opportunity to suppress the epidemic and prevent the virus from attacking the most vulnerable people, but we want to take the burden off the healthcare system," Dr. Begic says.
He stressed that funerals and family gatherings are ways to spread infection in Montenegro. Around 40% of infected persons are in two significant clusters.
USA committed to Montenegro $ 300,000 in health assistance
The United States Government has committed $ 300,000 in health assistance to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 outbreak in Montenegro.
US Ambassador to Montenegro Judy Rising Reinke said, "As a friend, partner, and ally, the U.S., the government is proud to continue our long-standing support for the development of Montenegro's health system and economy. We stand side by side with our NATO ally to address together with the wide-ranging effects of the current COVID-19 crisis."
As part of an ongoing regional disaster risk reduction program, USAID is supporting Red Cross in Montenegro to provide training and equipment for an Emergency Operations Center that will soon be up and running to support Montenegro's COVID-19 efforts and future disaster responses.
Source: Vijesti Online
