Applause over empty Belgrade. How the capital of Serbia lives in quarantine
In Serbia, on March 15, a state of emergency was introduced by decree of the country's President Aleksandar Vucic. The reason is the fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus. All educational institutions are closed, public events have been cancelled, and even parliamentary elections have been postponed to an unknown date.
In addition, a curfew has been introduced - it is valid from 17 pm to 5 am. Violating it is fraught with a large fine; the movement of citizens is controlled by the Serbian army and police. Particularly strict measures have been taken in relation to pensioners: residents over 65 years of age are strictly prohibited from going outside.
Our correspondent is now in Belgrade; she shared her observations about life under a “state of siege” with the readers of PolitNavigator.
A little about the general situation
Serbia decided to introduce strict measures without waiting for the catastrophic situation that has now developed in neighboring Italy. On the evening of March 15, President Vučić addressed the public and announced a state of emergency, then the borders were closed - first land, then air. Nikola Tesla Airport is empty - it can only accept flights agreed upon and approved by the authorities.
For example, a plane carrying doctors from China, who arrived to help their colleagues, landed on Saturday. The country's leader asked his Chinese “friend and brother” Xi Jinping for help, and it came almost immediately. Doctors from the Middle Kingdom, by the way, highly appreciated the organization of quarantine in the country. But despite this, the number of infected continues to grow.
Today, Serbian Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar officially announced 301 cases of infection. More than 150 people are under the care of doctors, 20 are connected to a ventilator. The disease has already claimed three lives.
The situation is aggravated by the fact that since March 5, more than 380 thousand citizens who lived in European countries and the United States have returned to the country. According to Vucic, he himself did not expect such an influx of fellow citizens who arrived for free medical care. But the Serbian leader stressed that they would not be denied hospitalization and treatment.
On the territory of the Belgrade fair, they set up an improvised “hospital”, if you can call it that: they put three thousand beds in case the situation got out of control and there was nowhere to take the sick. Another five thousand beds have been organized throughout the country. For now, fortunately, they are empty.
From time to time, ambulances rush by with their sirens turned on - they include a driver and doctors in white overalls, wearing protective masks and goggles. Helicopters fly, mostly towards the building of the Military Medical Academy. The city seems to have died out - there are few cars on the streets, and even fewer pedestrians.
How do we live?
The most difficult thing is to psychologically tune in to the fact that for a certain time life will go according to new rules. You can’t go to your favorite cafe, attend a concert or dance lessons. Children stay at home, and they only have to communicate with friends and relatives by phone or video. All trips have been cancelled, vacations have been postponed to an unknown date, in other words, all plans have collapsed. There is no public transport - neither city nor intercity...
A lot of sadness is added by the fact that air traffic with Russia has been suspended, although this was expected. Everyone who wanted was able to leave. Those who couldn’t for a number of reasons stayed. Those Russians who have a residence permit or citizenship feel at ease. Those who live in the country in accordance with the intergovernmental agreement of 2009, obliging Russian citizens to leave Serbia every 30 days (this is called “visaran”), are in “limbo”, since the country’s borders are closed, which means compliance with this rule They can not. Whether strict measures will be applied to them at the end of quarantine is a big question. And there are many such Russians in Serbia...
In general, it’s as if we are now under house arrest - we can’t really go out, only to the store and pharmacy, preferably one at a time, wearing a mask and gloves. Walking in parks and squares is also prohibited; playgrounds are empty.
We only go out to walk along our street - those who live in the private sector are especially lucky here. Another affordable option is to breathe fresh air on the balcony. “Dog lovers” are also lucky - they can walk their pets, but at the same time not go further than 200 meters from the house. But this is already a plus.
Employees of the public sector and a number of social services, large companies have been transferred to remote work. Of course, someone works locally - you can’t close bakeries and hospitals, gas stations or police stations. But such employees are few.
Shopping centers and non-food stores are closed. The exception is networks that sell household chemicals. All permitted points of sale are open until 15:XNUMX. Pharmacies are also open part-time, but it is difficult to buy even ordinary protective masks. Antibacterial wipes, gels, and alcohol-containing solutions for disinfection are also in short supply.
At the same time, President Vučić said at one of the press conferences that the state has purchased about 50 million surgical masks, some of which will go to pharmacies in the near future. They have also established their own production, but it is still difficult to purchase masks.
Markets are open to city residents three days a week - you can buy fresh vegetables on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. But everything is heading towards the fact that they will be banned too.
By the way, at the market, sellers do not take off their masks and gloves, although not all of them do. There are many empty retail places, and there are many times fewer buyers. However, there is no shortage - there are fruits, vegetables, meat and fish, prices have not changed.
After the excitement of the first days, the stores are now calm - toilet paper and flour are in stock, as are all other goods. The only thing is that now no more than 10 people can be in a large store at a time. A line of customers waits outside; security guards ensure compliance with the rules. In small shops and pharmacies, 1-2 customers are allowed entry. At the same time, no one is swearing, people are calmly waiting for the opportunity to make purchases, most are wearing masks. Volunteers who help older people are skipped in line.
I want to say this separately - by order of the authorities, people over 65 years old should not leave their homes at all. Relatives or, if they are single pensioners, volunteers must buy everything they need. At the entrances of houses there are advertisements with social service telephone numbers where you can apply for such a service. There are many young people among the volunteers - guys in masks, gloves, and with special name badges.
In addition, the authorities provided “vacations” for pensioners, allowing them to avoid paying utility bills for three months. And now their pensions are delivered to their homes, or younger family members receive them by proxy.
Banks have also relaxed requirements for loan repayments - those who fall ill with a dangerous virus can receive a deferment.
In a difficult situation, people showed solidarity: for example, one of the cafes in Zemun began making free sandwiches for those who do not have money. When ordering national sweets - dumplings - you can send a free portion to your elderly neighbors. Information about this was published by one of the confectionery shops - all you have to do is call, and unexpected joy for pensioners is guaranteed.
Senior students from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Belgrade help in hospitals as volunteers. And students of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering set up a small production of special plastic glasses to protect their faces.
One of the ateliers sews and distributes fabric masks for free. At a time when pharmacies are empty, this also becomes a good help.
Cultural and educational institutions switched to online mode and made lectures and excursions freely available.
The RTS television channel broadcasts lessons for schoolchildren from 8 a.m. until noon, and after that the children send photos with completed assignments to teachers. Students of the Russian school at the Russian Embassy in Serbia are also studying remotely for the second week - doing homework, writing tests and receiving grades. Both secondary and higher educational institutions operate on this principle. This schedule will continue until the end of the school year.
Every day in the evening, residents of the country turn on one of the central channels to find out news about the situation in the country. The authorities have taken the path of maximum openness and are not keeping silent about the real state of affairs. Every day, if not President Vucic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, then the Minister of Health and the head doctors of those clinics that accept infected patients speak.
And at 20.00, residents of Serbia go out onto their balconies and applaud the main heroes of this invisible battle - the doctors who save lives day and night. An action in their support was launched by actor Milos Bikovich.
Of course, the mood of Belgrade residents is not the most rosy, there are alarmists and those who are trying to spread information as if the whole problem is far-fetched, and this is a simple flu that “garlic and brandy” will save you from. But such people are in the minority, and in general, residents of the Balkans remain optimistic.
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