The European Union could soon put Montenegro on its list of COVID-19 high-risk countries after Great Britain did so following a surge in the number of new infections, the local media said on Saturday.

In the past 24 hours, 764 new cases have been reported in Montenegro, which is the highest daily number of infections since September 2020.

In early August the country had below 500 infected persons and now it has 7,500.

Quoting unnamed diplomatic sources, the local media said that as of Monday the EU would introduce restrictions for Montenegrin citizens travelling to the EU.

Great Britain has already introduced restrictions for Montenegrin nationals, and travellers from that country have to go into 10-day quarantine.

Montenegrin epidemiologists in mid-August identified the presence of the Delta variant of coronavirus, having previously stepped up epidemiological restrictions to allow entry to restaurants and cafes only for people with COVID-19 certificates.

Montenegro has so far vaccinated close to 40% of the adult population and local epidemiologists for the time being recommend vaccination with a booster dose only for clinically very vulnerable cases and for people who have not developed antibodies within two months since receiving the second shot.