NEW COVID-19 CASES ARE DECLINING ALMOST EVERYWHERE

BUT POLITICIANS AND DOCTORS ARGUE WHEN IT MAY BE TIME TO RELAX THE “SOCIAL DISTANCING”

GOOD FRIDAY (APRIL 10) SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN THE APEX

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The latest coronavirus data from all over the world and across the US suggest that we may have reached the apex of the crisis. But a huge spikes of new cases and death rates in Britain and Netherlands, and a big jump in New York death count, imply we must stay the course in “social distancing” a while longer.

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One exception among the generally declining trends in European countries is Serbia. This is where new cases have surged by over 400 a day for the last two days in a row. As of April 14, 23,389 individuals were tested in that country of which there have been 4,465 confirmed cases, 400 recoveries and 94 deaths.

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All this despite the fact that nearly a month ago Serbia banned people older than 70 from leaving their homes at any time, and imposed a night curfew on almost everyone else in a bid to halt the spread of coronavirus (see US News and World, Mar 17, 2020).

But while the draconian measures are in effect, their enforcement is another matter. Anecdotal evidence from Belgrade suggests that there have been instances in which crowds gathered despite the “social distancing” order. Such as in this instance, for example, on Mar 30, when a group of citizens broke out of quarantine amd physically attacked soldiers in a Belgrade suburb demanding they get results of COVID-10 testing.

And now, two weeks later, a spike in new COVID-19 cases seems to be the result.