BELGRADE, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The government of Montenegro decided on Thursday to once again make mandatory the use of protective face masks in all public places in order to prevent a new outbreak of COVID-19.
The government said on Twitter that in light of the increase in the number of infected people in several states and regions, and also in Montenegro, the "National Coordination Body adopted a decision on the obligatory use of protective masks in all public spaces."
On June 5, Montenegro decided to waive the face mask requirement except in healthcare and social care institutions, and on public transportation.
The government declared on May 24 that the country was "corona-free" with zero active cases, but since last weekend it has confirmed new ones. Currently, the country has nine active cases, of which seven were confirmed on Wednesday.
"The majority of the active cases of COVID-19 in Montenegro were imported from Serbia, because irresponsible individuals entered Montenegro across Bosnia and Herzegovina," the post explained.
Consequently, Montenegro has temporarily removed Bosnia and Herzegovina from the list of countries whose citizens can enter Montenegro without institutional isolation.
"Entry from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Montenegro from today will be possible only for citizens of Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and countries in the list of the Institute of Public Health of Montenegro, with an obligatory negative PCR (short for polymerase chain reaction) test," the government stated.
On June 1, Montenegro opened its borders to travelers from about 130 countries that have less than 25 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people.
Since the beginning of the outbreak, 333 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Montenegro. A total of 9,840 people have been tested, and 1,302 people are still under health surveillance, according to the Institute of Public Health. Enditem
