Prevention SARS-CoV-2 importation at different stages of the COVID-19 epidemic in Serbia and the world, a review of practices and effects

Abstract

The COVID-19 epidemic in the Republic of Serbia (RS), as well as the pandemic on the global scale, had an enormous impact on the life and health of the population and societal functions as a whole. To prevent importation of SARS-CoV-2, in particular in the early stages, unprecedented measures were taken throughout the world to restrict travel and control passengers. The conditions for their introduction, implementation and effectiveness were not known in advance, nor were the criteria for their relaxation or termination. Different risk assessment models and decision-making criteria were used worldwide, depending on the capacity of healthcare and other systems, COVID-19 prevalence, diagnostic capabilities, vaccination coverage and other factors. The purpose of this paper is to gain a clearer insight, through an analysis of practices used in Serbia and in the world during the pandemic, in the context of the epidemiological situation at the moment of their application, as well as through an analysis of the published literature, into the following: possibilities, conditions for application and effectiveness of the implementation of different SARS-CoV-2 importation prevention measures, expected impact, methodology for monitoring the implementation of measures and measuring their effects, for the purposes of planning the conditions and procedures for implementing similar measures in potential future epidemics and pandemics.