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Health and Travel Alert – December 18, 2020
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15 MINUTE READ
December 18, 2020

Health and Travel Alert – U.S. Embassy Belgrade, Serbia (December 18, 2020)

Location: Serbia

Event: As of December 17, the Serbian Ministry of Health announced 287,730 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Serbia and 2,529 deaths. 17,460 people have been tested in the past 24 hours, with 5,129 confirmed cases among them. In total, there are an estimated 9,499 hospitalized cases.

(Updated) country-wide measures from the Serbian Government, effective Sunday, December 20:

  • Starting Sunday, December 20, the Serbian Government is reporting that foreigners seeking to enter Serbia, U.S. citizens included, will need to provide a negative PCR test, issued within the previous 48 hours.
  • These measures are reported to not apply to several categories of travelers, including:
    • Foreign citizens in transit, with 12 hours allowed between entry to and exit from Serbia.
    • Minors up to 12 years of age, provided the parent, custodian or any other person accompanying the minor has a negative PCR test, if it is needed.
    • Crew and cabin crew of aircraft whose final destination is Serbia.
    • Crew, personnel, and passengers in transit through Serbia’s international airports.
    • Accredited staff of foreign diplomatic and consular missions, as well as offices of international organizations. Also included are family members with diplomatic status in Serbia.
    • Foreign citizens who have been granted temporary residence or permanent residence in Serbia (see below)
  • The Serbian Government also reports that foreign citizens with temporary or permanent residence in Serbia may enter without a negative PCR test, but will be required to quarantine at home for 10 days, as well as contact the nearest designated COVID-19 clinic or public health institution, within 24 hours of arrival, through the following official website: www.e-zdravlje.gov.rs. These individuals can also be tested in Serbia. If their PCR test is negative, they will no longer be required to quarantine at home.
  • Detailed information on these measures can be found on the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website.

(Previous) country-wide measures from the Serbian Government that remain in effect:

  • Restaurants, cafes, bars, clubs, shopping malls, betting shops, stores and services such as hairdressers, beauty salons, fitness centers, spas, gyms, and swimming polls will close at 5:00 p.m. on weekdays, and completely on weekends (starting from 5:00 p.m. on Friday until 5:00 a.m. on Monday).
  • Supermarkets and grocery stores can remain open until 9:00 p.m. every day, including weekends.
  • Pharmacies, gas stations, and food delivery services will operate without restrictions, seven days a week.
  • Theaters and movie theaters will close at 5:00 p.m. every day, including weekends.
  • Green markets will operate regular hours on workdays, and from 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on weekends.
  • Mandatory use of face coverings indoors, as well as outdoors if contact with other people cannot be avoided.
  • Prohibition of public gatherings with presence of more than five people indoors and outdoors. Excluded from this measure are work organizations, schools, stores, shopping malls and similar facilities, which are subject to the prescribed limit on the number of persons within the square footage of the facility (minimum 4 m2 per person).
  • Enabling work from home for all employees, wherever possible.
  • Requirement of face coverings on public transport, with the maximum number of passengers per vehicle limited to half of its declared capacity.
  • Visits to patients in hospitals are banned.
  • Visits to elder-care homes are limited to 15 minutes.
  • The recommended distance between people outdoors is 1.5 meters.

Travelers should be prepared for restrictions to change with little or no advance notice. Visit the website of the Government of Serbia for additional information.

U.S. citizens are encouraged to enroll in our Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive Alerts, and check our Embassy COVID-19 webpage for updated information as it is released.

The current U.S. Department of State Travel Advisory for Serbia is Level 3: Reconsider Travel.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 4 Warning for COVID-19 advising travelers to avoid non-essential travel.

U.S. Department of State recommended actions:

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