In the period from March 19 to June 1 this year, a total of 632 people died in Serbia who had tested positive for the coronavirus – more than twice as many as the officially announced number of 244 deaths in that period, BIRN has learned by analysing data obtained from the state’s COVID-19 information system.
Another data set from the state’s COVID-19 information system also indicates that the number of people who became infected in Serbia from June 17 to June 20 was at least 300 per day. This is far more than the officially announced figures, which recorded a maximum of 97 new cases in a single day during that period. Serbia held elections on Sunday in the midst of this apparent increase in infections.
BIRN conducted a detailed analysis of the data from the information system, focusing on the patients who died whose COVID-19 test results were marked as positive.
The biggest difference in the number of deaths was noted in the Clinical Centre in Nis, Serbian town in southern Serbia, where according to officially published data, 77 patients died of the virus.
No representative of the competent institutions in Serbia: the Ministry of Health, members of the Crisis Staff, directors of hospitals and the Institute of Health, wanted BIRN to comment on this information, or to explain the huge differences in numbers.
Serbia’s parliamentary elections were held on Sunday 21.06.2020, with a landslide victory for incumbent President Aleksandar Vucic’s ruling SNS party.
Source: Balkaninsight.com
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