Belgrade, 22 July 2022 (MIA) — The Serbian government has introduced a ban on hospital visitors due to the country’s latest SARS-CoV-2 surge,  according to MIA’s Belgrade correspondent citing Serbia’s Ministry of Health and 'Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut' Institute of Public Health. For weeks, Serbia has been logging around 4,000 new coronavirus infections a day. Over the past 24 hours, of the 12,821 people tested, 4,500 were diagnosed with a SARS-CoV-2 infection. The official COVID-19 death toll in the country of some 8,6 million inhabitants has reached 16,199. According to Serbian epidemiologist Predrag Kon, transmission of the airborne virus is high and rising. This is concerning, he said, reiterating that masks are still mandated in hospitals and people should be followinh the rules. “Wearing a [KN95] mask is the most harmless and safest protective measure,” he said, adding that if everyone wore protective masks, they would offer 95 percent protection against the coronavirus. mr/