Bosnia could go into partial lockdown but it is still early for it

N1

Bosnia could go into a "partial lockdown" in the coming period but it is still too early for that, Goran Cerkez, Assistant Minister of Health of the Federation (FBiH) entity told N1 on Tuesday.

“There may be a partial lockdown, but I'd say it's too early for that. Many measures can be taken before we come to that. Cantonal governments have the whole system in their hands, they can engage the Ministry of the Interior, they can adopt new restrictive measures and agree on a new penal policy. Ninety percent of the Sarajevo population wears masks, which is lacking in many other cantons. One can ask very openly: do ministries of interior do their job properly, when we have 500, 200, 300 people at rallies,” Cerkez asked, adding that there are mass gatherings across the country which must be pre-aproved by those interior ministries.

“I'm not going to go into politics, but any political party that violates our measures and shows inconsistency in their implementation shows what we can expect from them after the election. I am not politically active and I do not intend to be,” he said.

When asked if Bosnia has enough PCR tests, Cerkez there is no need to worry about that.

“We have enough tests and we initiated the procurement of more tests. We spent a lot of money in that segment and we even have flu tests and we expect to have tests which can determine if a patient is infected with flu or Covid-19. Our biggest problem is the exhaustion of our medical staff,” Cerkez concluded.