FBiH Government Adopts Orders and Recommendations, Cantons Recommended to Introduce VTP Rules

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Government of the Federation of BiH, at today's session in Sarajevo, adopted information on the epidemiological situation of COVID-19 in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as of January 10, 2022, as well as the orders and recommendations of the Crisis Headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Health, which were adopted with a validity period of 14 days starting from January 13, 2022, as the day of their implementation.

Among the orders is that gatherings of no more than 30 people indoors and no more than 100 people outdoors are permitted, and all these gatherings must take place in a space that allows for a mandatory physical distance of at least two meters between persons (except for members of the same household).

Exceptionally, the organization of larger gatherings indoors and outdoors is permitted, provided that the size of the space allows for the implementation of hygiene-epidemiological measures, but no more than
60 persons indoors, or 200 persons outdoors. The condition is also that all participants in the gathering have a negative antigen test (not older than 24 hours) or PCR test (not older than 48 hours), a certificate of having recovered from COVID-19 (not older than four months), or a certificate of completed vaccination (not older than six months after receiving the second dose, or nine months after receiving the third dose of the vaccine).

The governments of the cantons, i.e., the crisis headquarters of the cantonal ministries of health, are ordered to introduce more restrictive measures based on the assessment of the epidemiological situation in the canton or municipality, with regular notification of the Crisis Headquarters of the FMZ. The governments of the cantons are recommended to, in accordance with the epidemiological situation in the canton, risk assessment, as well as the document „Public Health Criteria for the Adjustment of Public Health and Social Measures in the Context of COVID-19“, introduce the Vaccinated, Recovered, Tested (VPT) Rule for the canton area and inform the Crisis Headquarters of the FMZ thereof.

The Crisis Headquarters of the FMZ is tasked with monitoring the epidemiological situation in the Federation of BiH, as well as the introduction and implementation of the Vaccinated, Recovered, Tested (VPT) Rule for the canton area, and if it deems it necessary to propose uniform measures in the Federation of BiH regarding the VPT Rule, it shall inform the FBiH Government for the adoption of the measure.

This headquarters is tasked with, before the expiration of the deadline, reviewing the complete epidemiological situation and preparing a risk assessment, for the purpose of considering the possibility and need for amending the orders and recommendations, and submitting a proposal for new ones to the Government.

The Crisis Headquarters will deliver today's conclusions, with attachments, to the cantonal ministries of health and their crisis headquarters, cantonal health institutions, clinical centers in FBiH, general, cantonal and special hospitals, and the Federal and cantonal administrations for inspection affairs and cantonal police administrations. 

In accordance with the conclusion of January 8, 2021, the Government will inform the Parliament of FBiH about the epidemiological situation and the measures it adopted today with the aim of protecting the health of citizens and reducing the risk of the spread of the virus. 

In the information presented today by the Crisis Headquarters of the FMZ, it is stated, among other things, that in the first week of this year, an increase in all indicators was recorded, most notably the seven-day incidence and the number of new
confirmed cases of COVID-19. At the level of the Federation of BiH, the seven-day incidence is 328.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and in the last seven days, higher than the average was recorded in the
West Herzegovina, Herzegovina-Neretva, Sarajevo, and Posavina cantons.

According to the latest data, so far in FBiH, 1,089,145 vaccines against COVID-19 have been administered, of which 539,670 (29.97 percent) are first doses, 503,452 (27.96 percent) are second doses, and
46,022 (2.56 percent) are third doses.