BELGRADE: After spending almost three months in Serbia helping fight the COVID-19 epidemic there, the Chinese medical expert team departed from Belgrade airport early Thursday with good wishes from Prime Minister Ana Brnabic.
A sendoff for the six-strong team was held on Wednesday evening when they met with Brnabic, who later personally escorted them to the airport. Brnabic said that the Chinese expert team served in Serbia for 82 days and thanked China and its leadership, as well as the medical team for playing “a key role in Serbia’s battle against COVID-19” by transferring their knowledge and experience.
The team arrived on March 21, just 15 days after Serbia confirmed the presence of the virus, she recalled. The plane they travelled in also carried much-needed medical supplies including protective gears and ventilators for Serbia. The Chinese experts “came here to transfer their knowledge and their experience, and to invest here their enormous energy and love, touring the country and managing to hold 150 meetings and activities with our healthcare workers in our facilities,” said the Serbian head of government.
Lin Bingliang, an epidemiologist from the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sun University, said that the team worked hard to justify the trust of Serbian people and visited 22 cities and more than 70 institutions. Noting that the number of difficult cases and the death toll in Serbia have been low compared with the global situation, he said he was satisfied with the results.
However, he warned of the remaining risks that require prevention and control measures in the future.
“Although we are leaving Serbia and returning to our homeland, our hearts will remain with Serbia. – Agencies
