People still have not taken the pandemic seriously enough but the coronavirus will change the world eventually, psychologist Jasna Barjaktarevc said on Wednesday evening, calling for stricter isolation rules and the introduction of a curfew.

“I believe that we have not taken it seriously enough,” Bajraktarevic said, mentioning that some 70,000 people visited a busy mall in Sarajevo’s centre the day before.

“Here we have a popular saying, ‘we have survived the war, we will also survive this’. Yes, we will if we don’t let human stupidity defeat morals, discipline and knowledge,” she said.

“Stupidity has destroyed centuries and can destroy a state too,” Bajraktarevic said. “One person can ruin everything,” she added, urging Bosnia to learn from countries in the region, where harsh measures were imposed to contain the outbreak.

Countries with weak economies have unstable systems and a big number of patients can cause the system to collapse, Barjaktarevic stressed, calling for “early repressive measures and punishments for those violating them.”

She said that a curfew should be introduced “for psychological reasons.”

“We have a huge psychological problem – to make people understand the seriousness of the situation, while not allowing for panic to spread,” the psychologist said.

She explained that in these situations solidarity develops between equals and that nothing should be expected from the European Union which has “shown us where we stand a long time ago.”

“Bosnia and Herzegovina will receive help from countries that are equal,” she said. “Something new will emerge, a completely (new) psychological geo-political division.”

“The coronavirus will change the world,” she said, explaining that nothing will remain the same, including people’s priorities.

“It will not be important who is wealthy and who is poor, as the coronavirus will teach us that only if we change our habits and way of life we can evolve,” she said.

“We must use the next 90 days to find out something new and great within ourselves as individuals,” Barjaktarevic concluded.