Epidemiologist Predrag Kon said today that he was "deeply" affected by the request of the Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church regarding the movement of citizens for Easter, stating that it somehow "completely negates all previous attempts to save lives".
Commenting on a post on Facebook in which he announced the possibility of withdrawing from the professional team due to the criticism he and the other members of the team have been exposed to these days, Kon said that he wrote it because "the level of rudeness exceeded what can be accepted".
"Realizing that the public lacks understanding to that extent, I felt the need to take refuge," said Kon at a regular press conference on the corona virus epidemic in Serbia.
Stating that he had discussed the possible withdrawal with the President and Prime Minister of Serbia, Aleksandra Vučić and Ana Brnabić, Kon said that he received "strong" support from the authorities, without which, as he assessed, "we would not be able to do anything except talk." ".
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"Aware of the politicization of everything in our country, it is necessary to say that because it is the truth," Kon said.
Earlier today, he stated on his private Facebook account that "it's time to retire" due to criticism and let better people lead the pandemic.
"As far as I can tell on Facebook, the main culprit for the penetration of the virus into the Gerontology Center in Niš is me and the expert team. It's time for me to retire because of that and leave it to better people to manage the pandemic. , except against the virus. I am constantly following all thinking people and how the anger instead of the situation and the virus itself turned towards me and the professional team. It's time to take cover. Temporary suspension. All the best," Kon wrote.
Asked if, due to the frequent criticism of the work of the expert team, he believes that this is a limited campaign, Kon said that it is not impossible that this is the case, but added that he cannot claim such a thing with certainty.
"Attacks have existed for some time, but they were not so severe and malicious. However, after the events at the Gerontological Center in Niš, these attacks are completely uncontrolled and unacceptable, as if they have joined forces with the virus against all of us who are fighting against the virus," Kon said. .
He added that he will no longer pay attention to the attacks because defending against them, as he judged, means defeat.
"It must be completely ignored because these are people who have time to viciously attack everyone who works seriously," Kon said.
Asked whether preparations are being made for a possible new wave of the epidemic during autumn and winter, he said that a lot has been done to prepare society, that the number of respirators has increased significantly compared to the previous period, and that he thinks that the existing capacities are sufficient for the second wave that is "usually lower than the first".
"It is very likely that we will work on it in the future because this is a serious warning. We will work during the summer on a study on a representative sample, we will also have a series of tests to check how immune the population is to us," Kon said.
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