Montenegro is the only European country so far not affected by the rampant coronavirus outbreak as of Thursday, the Montenegrin Institute for Public Health said
BELGRADE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th March, 2020) Montenegro is the only European country so far not affected by the rampant coronavirus outbreak as of Thursday, the Montenegrin Institute for Public Health said.
"No infection cases have been detected in the country. Since the outbreak's onset, we have tracked the health of a total of 2,000 people and 392 people are under medical surveillance at the moment," the institute said, adding that so far 47 people in Montenegro had been tested.
According to the institute, testing and diagnosis takes two to three hours.
In a conversation with Sputnik, a representative of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral said that "canceling gatherings is off the table at the moment," despite the government's calls to avoid mass assemblies amid the outbreak in the rest of Europe. Montenegro still has many of its citizens gathering on a weekly basis for marches and prayer services to protest against the controversial law on religious communities.
Other than the warning against mass assemblies, and bans on travel to the mostly affected countries including China, Italy, Iran, South Korea and Spain the Montenegrin government's response to the pandemic has been low-key.
During an appearance on public tv on Thursday, President Milo Djukanovic said there was no need to close schools in the country. Earlier in the day, police even detained a person over "intimidation of the public" after he apparently publicly claimed that the virus was, in fact, in Montenegro.
