02.04.2020.

Minister Vulin: Serbia shows that it is able to adapt to the most difficult times and how important it is to have a firm leadership

Through joint efforts of the City of Novi Sad, the Provincial Secretariat for Healthcare and members of the Serbian Armed Forces, the transformation of the halls of the Novi Sad Fair into temporary hospital for patients with mild symptoms of Covid-19 has been completed, and it was visited today by the Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin, the Mayor of Novi Sad Miloš Vučević and the Provincial Secretary for Healthcare, Dr. Zoran Gojković.

- This shows that the state functions and that all authorities work. This shows that we are all ready to help every citizen of our country. Serbia is not the richest of countries, but it is neither a country where people will lie on the hospital floor because they do not have a bed, because they have no place to stay. This is not a country where anyone will be left behind, or left on their own. This is a country that shows that it is able to adapt to the most difficult times and the most difficult moments and that it is important to have a firm and clear leadership - said Minister Vulin.

By giving an example of the close cooperation between the City of Novi Sad with the Provincial Secretariat and the Serbian Armed Forces and the military with the Government and the President of the Republic and the Supreme Commander, Minister Vulin stresses the fact that the state is functioning and how important it is to invest in our state and every segment of our country.

Minister Vulin points out that Hall 1 and the “Master Hall” of the Novi Sad Fair can accommodate about 1,000 patients from Vojvodina and stresses that this is not a hotel, but that all requirements for decent and good accommodation have been met, and that patients themselves will have to contribute to maintaining hygiene and order.

The Mayor of Novi Sad, Miloš Vučević, thanked the Serbian Armed Forces for their contribution to the establishment of the temporary hospital and said that the Clinical Centre of Vojvodina and its employees, who are also an army fighting for the health of our citizens, now enter the scene.

According to him, Hall 1 of the Novi Sad Fair is ready to admit the first patients and it is equipped with beds with linens, cabinets, chairs and tables in every room. Dining rooms, leisure areas with televisions, a library, showers and additional toilets, hot water and the internet are ready.

- We are ready to provide anything else that is needed. The Student Centre will be doing food delivery. We are also finishing up the “Master Hall” tomorrow, which will be able to accommodate up to 1,000 people with a mild form of the coronavirus disease - said Mayor Vučević.

The Provincial Secretary for Healthcare Dr. Zoran Gojković points out that the training of the first doctors who will be working in the temporary hospital of the Novi Sad Fair has been completed.

- We are fully equipped with all necessary protective equipment. Doctors from all over Vojvodina will work here. The first group of doctors consists of general practitioners from various institutes who are not on the frontline in hospitals at the moment - explains Gojković, adding that in case the patients’ health deteriorates, they will be transferred from the Novi Sad Fair to the Clinical Centre of Vojvodina for treatment.

Gojković said that by 7 o'clock this morning, 80 patients infected with the coronavirus were being treated at the Clinical Centre of Vojvodina, six of which were on respirators. He says that three patients were discharged for further home treatment, and since 6 March, when Covid-19 was first diagnosed in Serbia, five deaths have been reported.