Two Serbian towns declare emergencies over worsening health crisis

Media reports said that the towns of Vrbas in the northern Vojvodina province and Bela Palanka in southern Serbia declared emergency situations, closing schools and kindergartens to curb the spread of the coronavirus.  

The municipal authorities in Vrbas ordered all schools to go to online classes but allowed children both of whose parents have to work to go to kindergarten but with confirmation that no one in their family is infected. The head of the local emergency situations team said that 104 of the 160 people tested over the previous three days tested positive for the coronavirus. The local authorities also banned more than 15 people at funerals.  

Bela Palanka’s municipal authorities declared an emergency situation for a second time since the pandemic broke out after 11 of the 13 people tested on Monday were positive for the coronavirus. The local authorities ordered communal and sanitation inspectors to step up their control of bars and restaurants along with the police. They also asked the military to set up a tent in front of the local medical center as a waiting room and ordered the closure of all kindergartens.