On the basis of what data does Prime Minister, Ana Brnabic say that the protests are the reason why we there is an increase in the number of infected people these days, when we have established that the database is designed in such a way that it cannot determine with certainty what the figures, which are presented to the public daily, actually indicate?
In the last 24 hours, 9,183 people have been tested to the presence of the coronavirus and 383 of them positive.
These are the latest figures from yesterday, announced during the usual press conference held by the government’s crisis unit in which Ana Brnabic also participates.
The PM claims that the growing number of infected people is a direct consequence of the recent protests in Serbia. When asked why did she think that the protests were the real cause, she replied: “There are several things”.
“Exactly seven days after the protests, and today is the eighth day after the protests, we had an increase in the number of infected, especially in Belgrade. It is impossible to have such a gathering, a large number of demonstrators not wearing masks, in close contact for several hours, and not see an increase in the numbers. It is simply impossible! There is no theoretical possibility. It seems to me that we have recorded the largest number (of infected people) in these last two days, perhaps even tomorrow, but if we adhere to the measures the situation will stabilize,” Brnabic explained.
At this point, let’s remind that the epidemiologist Zoran Radovanovic said, only one day earlier, that any large gathering was indeed a risk, but that it was still too early to determine whether the protests in Belgrade and other larger cities in Serbia had influenced the increase in the number of people infected with the virus.
“The protests began a week ago, the incubation period has yet to pass. Not enough time has gone by to determine the real numbers and impact of the protest,” Radovanovic said, adding that the pre-election rallies also posed a huge danger in terms of increase in the number of infected people and that now there were attempts to somehow cover up that the real date had been concealed.
However, the Prime Minister is ready to accept criticism in regard to the data, urging us not to worry if the number of infected people has gone up in the last 24 or 72 hours.
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At yesterday’s press conference, when asked how it was possible that there were a total of 279 people infected on July 13, while Dr Predrag Kon had counted 301 in Belgrade alone that day, Brnabic defended herself by saying that it depends on how you interpret at the data.
“Let us no longer worry about what this or that person says, because it is possible that we are talking about completely different things. When you put everything together, you still get the same picture. I don’t know whether Dr Kon was referring to a period of 24 or 48 or 72 hours, but there’s a big difference in how you interpret the data,” the PM said.
Let’s pause for a moment.
If it doesn’t matter what period the data reported by the crisis unit refers to, how can we conclude that the protests have influenced the increase in the number of infected people?
If Brnabic speaks triumphantly of “the eighth day after the beginning of the protest”, how do we know that the data presented at the press conference corresponds to the period presumably passed since the protest, and not to 24, 48 or 72 hours before, since the Prime Minister herself urges us to ignore these date, probably for the sake of gaining a perspective of an overall picture?
How is it possible that we have not yet determined the coronavirus contagion potential at the FC Partizan – FC Red Star football derby held in June, at which at least 15,000 people participated while not wearing any protection, while the protests have already affected the number of infected people?
“This was foreseeable in my opinion, so it is easier to manage and accept such numbers,” concluded the Prime Minister.
(Nova.rs, 16.07.2020)
https://nova.rs/drustvo/zasto-premijerka-kaze-protesti-a-misli-na-derbi/
This post is also available in: Italiano