First cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Montenegro. Two female persons, born in 1948 and 1973, both traveled to the regions affected by the epidemic, said Montenegro’s Prime Minister, Mr Duško Marković, at the extraordinary conference and added that there was no need for panic. One of the infected women came from the USA 12 days ago and the other came back from Spain. PM and director of the Clinical Center of Montenegro, Dr Jevto Eraković, said that Montenegrin health system was prepared to respond to the new circumstances.
Director of the Institute for Public Health, Mr Boban Mugoša, said that one person was under watch, while the other wasn’t.
“Montenegro has enough tests”, Mr Mugoša said.
He explained that the patient who came back from the USA was from Ulcinj and wasn’t under watch. Patient who came back from Spain lives in Podgorica and she was under watch.
Mr Mugoša said that the persons hadn’t been working.
“Patient from Ulcinj lives alone, whereas the other patient lives in a family, which requires specific measures”, Mr Mugoša explained.
According to Mr Marković, Clinical Center of Montenegro has adequate conditions to provide appropriate treatment for the patients.
“Institute for Public Health has already started taking measures to prevent virus from spreading. From this moment on, the new phase begins. In the forthcoming period, new cases will probably be revealed. But, there’s no need to panic. We have been undertaking many activities so far. It is clear that the entire health system had been prepared for weeks”, Mr Marković pointed out.
Mr Marković stressed that the epidemic had transformed into a serious challenge.
“We are aware of the problem employers and employees now have. We are carefully analyzing every aspect of this threat. Montenegro’s budget is the budget of Montenegrin citizens. I invite you to be responsible and to join our forces”, PM said.
PM added that the Government was working with countries and partners on getting the medical protection.
Dr Mugoša urged citizens to stay at home and maintain social distance, and to take care of the hygiene.
Minister of Health, Mr Kenan Hrapović, said that places for the quarantine were being considered.
Dr Jevto Eraković, said that Montenegro was the last European country where the coronavirus had broken out.
“Healthcare system and Coordination team have contributed. We were ready for the outbreak and we are absolutely prepared for this. Some tough days lie ahead, especially for healthcare workers. We have got protection equipment. Clinical Center has 44 respirators, and is about to get some more. These two patients don’t need respirators at this moment”, Dr Eraković said.
Set to overcome import blockage
“We didn’t discuss this with the counterparts from the region, because they were dealing with their own problems. Many of them made some moves that were not in place. Montenegro acted differently, we offered our ports for trading. I believe we will urge every country to act the same. We had a problem with a great number of trucks from Italy, Slovenia and Croatia but we managed to solve that. We had blockage from Serbia but we are addressing that issue by focusing on other markets. We have enough goods in selling facilities. Enough of everything”, Mr Marković answered the question about the problem with the import of goods.
