Doctors condemn Serbian Govt.’s response to COVID-19 pandemic

In an open letter published in local media on Tuesday said hundreds of doctors have sharply criticised the Serbian government’s response to the pandemic.

“We are addressing the public because we see no other way out of the health catastrophe our country is in,” states the letter signed by 350 doctors in Serbia.

The letter however,accuses the government of President Aleksandar Vucic of easing coronavirus restrictions too quickly, resulting in a loss of control of the epidemiological situation.

After imposing a strict lockdown in March, the government lifted restrictions at the beginning of May, allowing even large events such as football matches with 18,000 spectators to take place.

Vucic’s SNS party also organised large campaign events in the run-up to the parliamentary elections on June 21, which the SNS won by a large margin.

At the same time, the doctors accuse the government of publishing false figures and intimidating or threatening doctors critical of the government response.

“All this has shaken the health system to its core and undermined citizens’ trust in health personnel,” the doctors write.

The number of coronavirus infections in the Balkan country of 7 million inhabitants has risen steeply in the past weeks.

Between Sunday and Monday, authorities have registered 359 new cases. There are currently 190 people on ventilators and ten have died in the past 24 hours.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 21,253 cases were registered and 482 deaths.