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| - Serbia will require negative coronavirus tests taken within 48 hours for foreigners coming from four neighbouring countries, the Balkan state's government crisis team said Friday. The new measure applies to those arriving from Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, and Romania, Darija Kisic Tepavcevic, a member of the task force managing Serbia's coronavirus response, told national broadcaster RTS. Until now travellers could freely enter Serbia without tests or quarantine measures. Tepavcevic did not elaborate on why these countries were chosen, although they are among places that have seen new swells of the virus in recent months. "We want to maintain a stable situation and prevent imports of new cases," she said. The measure will come into force on Saturday and does not apply to Serbian nationals returning from the four countries. After bringing down its initial infection curve earlier in the year, Serbia saw a strong resurgence of the virus at the end of June, putting heavy strain on the hospital system. In recent days, the numbers have started to go down. In total some 660 people have died from the respiratory disease in the country of seven million, according to the official toll. mat/ssm/txw
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