The deputy director of the Institute for Public Health "Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut", Darija Kisic Tepavcevic, said that the recent sudden drop in the number of people infected with the coronavirus was noticed after a new analysis of the situation which included “redefining of all criteria” of the disease.

She told TV Prva that Serbia accepted the stance of the World Health Organisation (WHO) which said that two negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests within 24 hours indicate recovery and that the WHO itself has meanwhile revised its methodology.

“All the people with positive tests were in hospitals. The first PCR test would be conducted within five to seven days after signs of the infection would subside. At one point, we decided that after the first test we would release people to home isolation and that they would be tested again after two weeks,” she said, adding that there were cases where people would be registered as infected for up to two months although nothing indicated that.

The methodology was changed later, in that infected people without symptoms were released to home isolation and were declared healthy if they did not show any symptoms during those two weeks and if their PCR test is negative, she said.