Inspections of schools and other facilities are conducted daily to ensure compliance with measures

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - "The new school year began on September 3rd, and inspections immediately continued their controls and activities in public and private schools and preschool institutions in the Sarajevo Canton area, all with the aim of protecting the health of students, teaching and other staff, as well as their family members," said Inspector Izet Smajić, a member of the Crisis Staff of the Ministry of Health of Sarajevo Canton, at today's press conference.

According to him, compliance with prescribed protective measures and physical distance for students and school staff, the type and quantity of disinfectants and personal hygiene products, the organization of meals and extended stays, and the establishment and adherence to the crisis preparedness plan at the institutional level were checked. So far, sanitary and hygienic supervision of compliance with general and specific hygienic-epidemiological measures has been carried out in 126 educational institutions, of which 80 are primary schools, 38 are secondary schools, and eight are preschool institutions.

"At the time of supervision in 104 schools (72 primary and 32 secondary), all ordered measures and recommendations were fully complied with. Due to identified irregularities in a total of 13 schools (seven primary and six secondary), decisions with corrective measures were issued, which were implemented within 24 hours, while for three schools (two secondary and one primary), inspectors issued six misdemeanor orders in a total amount of 10,500 KM," stated Inspector Smajić.

As he stated, misdemeanor and administrative measures were taken due to non-compliance with the orders and recommendations of the Crisis Staff of the Federal Ministry of Health, inconsistencies related to the number of children in extended stays, organizational irregularities related to student meals in extended stays and the manner of nutrition in general, as well as the failure to adopt a crisis preparedness plan in case of illness.

"I would like to note that supervision is currently being carried out in public and private preschool institutions, where the priority of supervision remains until the planned scope is achieved. It is also important to mention that the work of inspectors in the field was of a preventive/corrective nature until July this year; however, after the worsening of the epidemiological situation and the requests of the crisis staffs, in addition to increased intensity in terms of the number of inspections, inspectors have replaced their field activities with more repressive sanctions against violators," emphasized Inspector Smajić.

He added that in the Sarajevo Canton area, catering facilities, especially hookah bars, as well as shops, continue to be the most frequently sanctioned. On this occasion, he reminded that since March until today, inspection supervision has been carried out daily with work organized in two shifts, including night hours when controls are carried out in catering facilities, with the assistance of police officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton.

"In this regard, from the beginning of March until today, sanitary inspectors of the Sarajevo Canton Administration for Inspection Affairs have carried out a total of 9,248 inspections of catering and trade facilities, shopping centers, cosmetic/hairdressing salons, bakeries, betting shops, schools, kindergartens, and other supervised entities to which the issued orders apply," he said. During this period, 254 misdemeanor orders were issued in the amount of 424,695 KM, and the number of decisions issued with preventive-corrective measures is 830.

Based on the submitted epidemiological reports from the Public Institution Institute for Public Health of Sarajevo Canton, inspectors issued 3,723 orders prohibiting movement for persons who were in contact with infected individuals, with the note that daily reports on the number of issued orders are submitted to the public health institutes of the Federation and Sarajevo Canton for record-keeping in accordance with the orders of the crisis staffs of the ministries of health. Furthermore, all issued orders are also submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton, whose officers monitor compliance with movement bans daily, based on which they compile and submit official notes on any violations to the Inspection. Based on the notes submitted so far, sanitary inspectors have initiated misdemeanor proceedings before the competent court against 26 individuals in Sarajevo Canton.

Since the declaration of the pandemic, as well as during the period of worsening epidemiological situation in Sarajevo Canton, sanitary inspectors, organized in two shifts, have carried out daily field inspections (including weekends and night shifts) in all nine municipalities of Sarajevo Canton, which relate to the control of compliance with orders issued by the crisis staffs of the ministries of health of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sarajevo Canton. At the same time, they prioritized the issuance of orders prohibiting movement to persons who were in direct contact with individuals infected with COVID-19 or with persons suspected of being infected with the coronavirus, including monitoring compliance with the issued measures.

Since the Administration does not have a sufficient number of sanitary inspectors who, given the number of supervised entities in Sarajevo Canton, could adequately respond to the given needs in the conditions of the pandemic, in order to overcome the problem of staff shortage, inspectors from other areas operating within the Administration have been reassigned. This was done by granting them authority to perform the duties of a sanitary inspector, whose responsibility is to control the implementation of measures from the issued orders, thus ensuring that the supervision of their implementation in Sarajevo Canton is monitored daily by 15-20 inspectors.

The current epidemiological situation in Sarajevo Canton does not require the introduction of restrictive measures for citizens, as representatives of the crisis staffs and authorities have singled out Sarajevo Canton as an example worthy of praise for the coordination of bodies and the organization of control over compliance with the adopted measures.

"In order to maintain the current satisfactory epidemiological situation in Sarajevo Canton, but also to be prepared for new epidemiological risks that autumn brings, inspectors of the Sarajevo Canton Administration for Inspection Affairs will continue to implement the activities that were undertaken in the past period," announced Inspector Smajić.