Coronavirus in Serbia: updates May 1st, 2020

The latest information on the Coronavirus pandemic and the situation in Serbia.

• New curfew: Thursday from 6 pm to Saturday at 5 am.
• Saturday and Sunday curfew: As per weekdays, so from 6 pm to Saturday to 5 am Sunday, and 6 pm Sunday to 5 am Monday.
• Gatherings: Ban on gatherings of 5 or more people.
• People aged 65+: Can go outside twice on Friday. (Peter Atkinson do you happen to know times?)
• Source: https://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2020&mm=04&dd=29&nav_id=108411

New measures:

• Parks and Recreational spaces: Now open
• Outdoor sports training: Now possible
• Public transport: From 4th May intercity transport will start, and public transport in Novi Sad. On 8th May Public transport without air conditioning will start in Belgrade
• Bars & restaurants will reopen 4th May
• Shopping malls will reopen on 8th May
• Kindergartens will reopen on 11th May
• The airport is planned to be reopened on 18th May

Existing measures:

• People aged 65+: Can walk outside between 6 pm and 1 am, for one hour daily no more than 600m from their place of residence.
• Businesses that involve close physical contactsuch as hairdressing salons, beauty salons, gyms and fitness centers are allowed to start working. With special measures and maintaining social distance.They will be fitting into existing curfew hours. (Please check if your gym intends to open … as some are waiting until full opening is allowed in order to unfreeze memberships.)
• Pet walking: Every day between 11pm and 1am and on Saturday and Sunday from 8am to 10am. (Please note: For Friday 01 May, as in curfew, dog walking will be 8am to 10am. And if we do NOT have a curfew this weekend, dog walking will be 11pm and 1am.)
• Some shops have reopened: Shops that offer services such as car mechanics, tyre shops, shoemakers, tailors, dry cleaning, driving schools, as well as retail trade shops – bookstores, dealers in motor vehicles, bicycles, nautical, technical goods and building materials – will be allowed to open. Malls are still closed.
• Green markets (both those in open and closed spaces): are operating again.
• Serbia’s figures: 173rd COVID-19-related death in Serbia at time of posting (on 30 April) and 8,724 total confirmed cases.
• Self-isolation: All citizens & foreigners with a residence permit who entered the country on 14 March onward: Mandatory self-isolation measure has been extended from 14 to 28 days.
• Exceptions to this rule are: For certain occupations (healthcare professionals, prison guards, Ministry of the Interior, Army etc) the extension of home self-isolation from from 14 days to 28 days, will not apply to them. (These people will perform their work with complete protective equipment and their health status will be regularly monitored)
• Borders/airports closed: All of Serbia’s land borders are now closed (except for truck cargo) and both Belgrade and Nis airports have stopped operations except for cargo & repatriation flights..

Important contact numbers:

• For advice and/or if you feel you are experiencing symptoms of Coronavirus: Free calls from all networks and open 8.00 to 22.00. Ph: 19819
• For the elderly: New contact centre for assistance to the elderly for help with groceries, medicines. Free from all networks. Ph: 19920
• New Contact Centre for Inspectorates where you can report illegal raising of prices for food, medicines, medical devices and protective equipment at 011/6350-322 or through the website www.inspektor.gov.rs. (9am-4pm)

Meal, alcohol, grocery, medicine… delivery services: (ie Glovo, Wolt, Gladni and Donesi) etc

• The wonderful Mike Katz was “feeling hungry” and has created a web page for us to use with a list of places that will deliver food & drinks & grocery items. Thanks Mike!!! http://4delivery.net/

Free Serbian-language translation support from other BFVC-ers… if you are in a medical situation:

• Mike Katz has kindly created a list of BFVC-ers who are willing to offer their services as Serbian language translators, in the scenario that anyone finds themselves in a medical situation and unable to communicate in Serbian with their healthcare providers: http://4delivery.net/translation.htmlThanks again Mike!

Are you in self-quarantine / over 65 / need help?

• These amazing BFVC-ers have offered their help and are spread across Belgrade. https://www.facebook.com/groups/bgfvc/permalink/10157363192869005/
• If you need help and can’t find help, please send Jules or I a PM.
• Also there is a Serbian non-govt group of volunteers https://www.facebook.com/groups/SugradjaniSrbije/
• Official platform with a comprehensive list of companies, institutions, organisations, websites that offer services to make life easier in times of emergency. It is being updated daily. So far only in Serbian Cyrillic but Google Translate does an OK job.: https://www.digitalnasolidarnost.gov.rs

Serbia Statistics for COVID-19

• Alan Derbyshirehas created a good analysis site for Serbia …. they are updating and adding features as events unfold. No drama, hysteria or misinformation, just the facts. https://covid19sr.rbind.io/?fbclid=IwAR2TE3r8uGj2yhxwgHbyZWe48qX9oO2uFN8CwH5fHGrkMrsKkxYh7qGFg9k

WHO App for info and support

• The World Health Organization has launched a COVID-19 information service on WhatsApp.
• To interact with it, users will need to message the WHO account on +41 79 475 22 09 and send the word ‘Hi’ to begin chatting, after which, a list of prompts is returned to the user to access official information about the virus.

Renewing residency, work permits & visas

• On 24 March 2020 the Government of Serbia adopted the Decision on the status of foreign nationals in the Republic of Serbia during a state of emergency (the Decision). The Decision regulates that foreign nationals who were legally residing in Serbia on the day of introduction of the state of emergency on 15 March 2020 on the basis of grounds prescribed by the Law on Foreigners (work in Serbia, family reunification, etc) may lawfully reside in Serbia, as long as the state of emergency is in force, without the obligation to initiate processes for further determination of their status.
• This means that no misdemeanor proceedings will be initiated due to expiry of residence permits during state of emergency.
• The Police for Foreigners and National Bureau for Employment who are in charge for obtaining temporary residence and work permits, are closed until further notice.
• Pursuant to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia on the validity of a work permit issued to a foreigner during a state of emergency, work permits with a validity period during a state of emergency, that is, work permits whose last day of validity is March 15, 2020 or a later date for state of emergency, are considered valid.
• The decision on the validity of a work permit issued to an alien for the duration of a state of emergency does not apply to work permits whose period of validity expired prior to the introduction of the state of emergency, ie as of March 14, 2020. Such licenses have expired prior to the introduction of the state of emergency and are not subject to the Decision on the validity of a work permit issued to an alien for the duration of the state of emergency.
• The requests for extension of work permits submitted by the NES from the date of introduction of the state of emergency will be decided within 30 days from the date of termination of the state of emergency.
• Here is a link to the decison: http://www.pravno-informacioni-sistem.rs/SlGlasnikPortal/eli/rep/sgrs/vlada/odluka/2020/41/1/reg?fbclid=IwAR33cXRBUtCkrDEo_Ajssy9mlZtdo0UEUFG5UJDisDP3G2bT9eVlo_6qz80
• Here is a link to the work permit decision: http://www.nsz.gov.rs/live/info/saopstenja/informacija_o_odluci_o_va_enju_dozvole_za_rad_izdate_strancu_za_vreme_vanrednog_stanja.cid65294?languageId=4and https://novinice.rs/odluka-o-vazenju-dozvole-za-rad-izdate-strancu-za-vreme-vanrednog-stanja/?fbclid=IwAR1XmG9zeFMejfCNwyk8nxLWIGAitCBV7ub0OI5RdeAEaod89UKIFmL6BqY

Serbia Statistics for COVID-19

• Alan Derbyshire has created a good analysis site for Serbia …. they are updating and adding features as events unfold. No drama, hysteria or misinformation, just the facts. https://covid19sr.rbind.io/?fbclid=IwAR2TE3r8uGj2yhxwgHbyZWe48qX9oO2uFN8CwH5fHGrkMrsKkxYh7qGFg9k

WHO App for info and support

• The World Health Organization has launched a COVID-19 information service on WhatsApp.
• To interact with it, users will need to message the WHO account on +41 79 475 22 09 and send the word ‘Hi’ to begin chatting, after which, a list of prompts is returned to the user to access official information about the virus.

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