This archive report was first published on 8 July 2020.
On July 8, 2020, thousands of protesters gathered in the city centre of Belgrade, Serbia, to express their discontent with the government's handling of the COVID-19 crisis.
The protests came after the government announced the reimposition of a round-the-clock weekend curfew, following the country's deadliest day yet, with 13 fatalities.
President Aleksandar Vucic announced the return of the curfew, which will run from Friday to Monday, and stated that a government crisis team would decide whether it applied nationwide or only to Belgrade.
Speaking after the protests, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic condemned the violent attack on the parliament building, saying that the country and health system were facing the strongest blow from the coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic.
According to local media, the situation was particularly serious in the southwestern city of Novi Pazar, where hospitals have reported an overflow of patients and a lack of equipment.
Since the virus was first detected in Serbia on March 6, a total of 330 deaths and more than 16,700 infections have been reported.
