May 20, 2020 - There were no newly infected COVID-19 patients in Montenegro for 15 days. The Institute of Public Health said that the official proclamation of the end of the epidemic would be after 28 days of the last recorded infection.
Epidemiologists analyzed 170 samples yesterday, among which there were no new cases of infection. Since the beginning of the event, there have been a total of 324 COVID-19 patients. Three hundred twelve have recovered, and only three cases are active at the moment- in Ulcinj, Gusinje, and Bijelo Polje.
The Institute explained to Pobjeda what the end of the epidemic means and what the "corona free zone" means. They stated that the official proclamation of the end of the outbreak is a procedure that is "per se" not defined by law or bylaws.
- In practice and among the profession, it is common for an epidemic of one infectious disease to be canceled when, during the duration of two average incubation times, there were no newly registered cases of the disease that became infected in one territory. In this case, it means that it is a situation that no one has been infected with the virus in Montenegro for 28 days - the Institute explained.
When it comes to the very act of checking out, i.e., declaring the end of an epidemic of a contagious disease, that, as they explain, "essentially and in practice does not change many things, nor does it mean that the risk has disappeared or been eliminated."
- Therefore, we must learn to continue to live with the risk of contracting COVID-19, especially considering the frequency of asymptomatic carriers of the virus. Any establishment of virus transmission would take us a few steps back, and that certainly should not be the goal of anyone - they say from the Institute.
They explain that territory is usually said to be "free" from certain infectious diseases when there are no registered new cases of infections for a specified period.
- This term is more characteristic of some infectious diseases such as polio, smallpox, and the like, which Montenegro has successfully controlled for many years by successfully implementing various public health measures. The term "corona free" is a more colloquial (rather than professional) term to denote that there is no COVID-19 disease in a territory. Ideally, there would be no viruses, which is almost impossible to maintain and preserve in the circumstances when there are more and more registered cases in the environment - they say from the Institute.
They stated that declaring the end or, more precisely, deregistering the epidemic is an individual process that is not prescribed by any legal action, but each state is left to define its own rules according to which it will deregister the epidemic.
