A sudden surge in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations brought Serbia on Tuesday a step from a new lockdown and a possible state of emergency as well as disputes on how to balance measures so as to protect the health system and the vaccination campaign without hurting the economy.

The medical professionals on the government’s Covid response team said the surge must be stopped with tough restrictions and a state of emergency during which only food stores, pharmacies and petrol stations would be open.

Politicians, on the other hand, underlined the need to balance measures and restrictions so as not to endanger the economy and state budget revenues.

In the past 24 hours 4,157 new cases have been registered, out of 16,743 tests, as well as 16 deaths, health authorities said.

The number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients stands at 4,031, including 168 on ventilators.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic in March 2020, Serbia has registered 4,475 Covid-related deaths, the mortality rate currently at 0.96 percent.