Thousands of protesters fought running battles with police in Serbia’s capital Belgrade after the president announced a lockdown would be reimposed.
Riot police fired tear gas at demonstrators, some chanting “Resignation! Resignation!” as they gathered in front of the central parliament building in Belgrade.
Some managed to enter the building by force last night, but were pushed back by police. The protesters responded by hurling flares, stones, bottles and eggs at the officers.
Earlier, President Aleksandar Vucic called the virus situation in Belgrade “alarming” and “critical” as the city’s hospitals neared their capacity limits.
Mr Vucic said the government would reimpose a curfew as of Friday. He said it will “probably” last from 6pm on Friday till 5am on Monday.
The country’s Health Ministry said 13 people had died in 24 hours - its highest single-day death toll from coronavirus - and 299 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed.
That brought the total to 16,719 confirmed cases and 330 virus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic in Serbia, which went from having one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns to a near-complete reopening at the beginning of May.
Football and tennis matches were played in packed stands and a parliamentary election was held on June 21 despite warnings from experts that the mass gatherings without social distancing could lead to a new coronavirus wave.
Mr Vucic said: “We have probably relaxed too much.”
“Everyone thought it was all over,” he added, angrily rejecting widespread criticism that his insisting on holding the election led to the lifting of the earlier lockdown and the recent coronavirus case spike.
On Tuesday, Montenegro introduced a compulsory quarantine for all people arriving from neighbouring Serbia, citing coronaviorus health risks.
Greece also banned Serb tourists from entering the country on Monday.
