Registered Covid-19 cases are increasing rapidly in the Western Balkans. Politicians and the federal corona task force therefore want to tighten controls for immigrants, especially from Serbia.
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The direct flights between Zurich and Belgrade take place, although there are still strong entry restrictions for non-Schengen countries.
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The numbers are still low, but the trend is worrying. Switzerland has registered more positive corona tests per day in the past few days. The focus is also on people returning from vacations or visiting relatives in the Western Balkans.
Of the 52 new infections reported on Thursday, 7 were people who came to Serbia from Serbia. Stefan Kuster, head of the communicable diseases department at the BAG, said this to the media on Thursday. At a press conference on Friday, cantonal doctor Christiane Meier said that 11 confirmed cases in the canton of Zurich were due to returnees from Serbia.
Zurich health director Natalie Rickli demanded further measures from the federal government in the event that returnees from certain countries fall ill. In addition to Serbia, the focus could also be on Pakistan or the Caribbean. A summer vacation solution was needed, said Rickli.
Such measures already exist in relation to Sweden, which continues to be badly affected by the Covid 19 crisis: Anyone arriving by direct flight from the Nordic country must undergo a temperature control at the airport. In the “Tages-Anzeiger”, numerous federal politicians are now calling for measures in relation to Serbia, such as Covid 19 tests for returnees.
The development of Covid 19 diseases in the Western Balkans is relevant for Switzerland, since numerous migrants from these countries live here. Many Swiss also have family ties to Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia or Serbia. Switzerland eased its strict border closings on June 8, but only for people from the Schengen area. For the countries in the Western Balkans, strong entry restrictions still apply.
Swiss nationals with a residence permit can visit their family or friends in Belgrade or Pristina and then return to Switzerland. The direct flights between Belgrade and Zurich will be carried out again.
The Corona Task Force recommends a ten-day quarantine upon return from countries that do not have the Corona crisis under control. The head of the task force, Matthias Egger, explicitly advocated such measures for the “Tages-Anzeiger” for Serbia. Cantonal doctor Rudolf Hauri from Zug said that cases of infected returnees from all over the region, not just from Serbia, were found.
This coincides with the development of the observed number of cases in the Western Balkans: While the first wave sloshed across Western Europe in March and April, these countries all got off pretty lightly. However, the number of registered infections has been increasing significantly for a few days.
According to official figures, the situation in North Macedonia has been tense for some time. The small country (around two million inhabitants) has recorded 100 to 200 new cases per day in the past few weeks. The same applies to Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Croatia registered practically no new cases for several weeks from mid-May, but the reported infections have been increasing rapidly again at a low level for around ten days. The same applies to small Montenegro.
Fatal tennis parties
Serbia, the most populous country in the Western Balkans, had its highest number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in early to mid-April, according to statistics from Johns Hopkins University at around 400 cases per day. The first outbreak was therefore significantly weaker than in Switzerland, which recorded up to 13oo cases per day with a slightly larger population at the end of March and missed many infections. While Switzerland has recorded nearly 2,000 deaths from Covid-19 so far, the number in Serbia is only 265.
Rising Covid 19 numbers in the Western Balkans
Significant increase recently in Serbia and Croatia
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In the past few weeks, however, the officially confirmed number of cases in Serbia has increased again at a low level. In the first half of June, the authorities registered between 50 and 100 infections per day; on Friday, there were 193 again.
It is known that around the Adria Tour, a series of tennis tournaments in the Balkans, numerous well-known tennis players and their supervisors have contracted the virus, including world number one, Novak Djokovic. The Serb had launched the Adriatic Tour, but had hardly taken any protective measures against the spread of the virus. He and other players can be seen on videos dancing in a club in Belgrade amidst a large crowd. Pictures of the tournament area show that he kept little distance to fan groups there.
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