The situation is extremely serious and worrying, but despite all the appeals, the people are holding parties, the measures are not being respected - all this is now the result of such behavior. And I think there is no point in appealing, there is no police, no one is doing anything, nightclubs are not closing - some are appealing to close everything, others are saying let the people live and that this is all made up, warned Bosnia's Federation (FBiH) entity Minister of Health, Vjekoslav Mandic on Monday, in an interview with N1.
N1: Will the FBiH Crisis Staff make a lockdown order?
– The FBiH Crisis Staff may propose that this be done. The cantons have the authority to close everything, even stop the movement from canton to canton, they can do everything. Nobody does anything. They just look and wonder, [had they done anything] the situation wouldn't even come close. But everyone is smart, everyone is an infectologist, everyone is involved in medicine and those who do not have basic knowledge of health are made doctors, so what are we wondering about? We shouldn't be surprised. So the number of infected, consequently both hospitalized and seriously ill will continue to grow.
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N1: Will the Crisis Staff propose a lockdown? Is that the only solution?
– We have already proposed three times to the Civil Protection Headquarters (FUCZ) to declare a state of emergency in the entire FBiH, as was the case in March. We were rejected all three times. The Civil Protection Crisis Staff should declare a state of emergency throughout the Federation and then a lockdown can be declared.
N1: Can the FCUZ make any decision without the FBiH Government?
– They can. They are also an advisory body. However, the last time, the FBIH Government made the decision to declare a state of emergency, and then the FUCZ took over everything. But, even if they don't take over now, our behaviour is not good, when will we stop partying, when will we stop having political rallies and celebrations, when will we stop denying the virus, and when will we stop being baffled and blaming doctors, ministers?
N1: Can we get to a breaking point of the health system?
– Of course, we can. Imagine receiving 100 or 200 patients three days in a row and having 100 people connected to ventilators every day. Of course, this will lead to a breakdown.
N1: You are a pessimist, and yet you are a Health Minister?
– I'm not a pessimist if we would stop behaving irresponsibly as we are. No inspections, no police, do you remember the police officer who recently charged a fine to someone on Bjelasnica mountain, and yet a nightclub works until 4 in the morning, with a thousand guests, and yet no one did anything. That is where we live. When I said that the situation is very worrying, it means that the health care system is very close to the breaking point. Here, let them continue having a thousand patients every day, let 10 percent of them be hospitalized, that's 100 patients, in five days we will have nowhere else to receive patients for hospitalization, and where are the respirators, where are the medicines, where is the staff, which is too tired, where is everything else. We've been talking for the past nine months, telling people to keep distance and wear a mask, what more do we need? The virus can only survive if it is transmitted from one person to another, and the person with poor health will not survive. Go out anywhere, go to the local store, no one wears a mask, and if they see you with a mask, you almost become the object of ridicule. It takes a year to realize that a mask has to be worn over the nose. I don't understand that. They say the mask is choking them!? Maybe we now have 100 people with mild symptoms who are mass transmitters, Mandic said in an interview with N1.
