Baby infected with coronavirus in a kindergarten, will Filipce bear responsibility?

A 15-month-old baby from the Skopje-based “13 November” kindergarten is the latest coronavirus case after the reopening of kindergartens on 9 September.

Since the opening of the kindergartens, there have been three cases of infected employees in kindergartens in Skopje, Bitola and Sveti Nikole, and now a 15-month-old child. According to information from the child’s parents, they took him to kindergarten only on the day they reopened, and he spent only one hour of adaptation there.

A few days later they told the caregivers that they would not take him to kindergarten because he was not feeling well. The parents thought the symptoms were due to tooth growth but still suspected that the virus might be present. And, therefore, the child and the parents were tested. The test came back positive for Covid-19. An epidemiological survey was conducted in the kindergarten group of the baby, and now the children and the two caregivers are in self-isolation.

Just days after the reopening of the kindergartens, which opened without testing the staff, several cases of Covid-19  have been confirmed. The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and the Ministry of Health are silent about this.

VMRO-DPMNE also reacted to the way the kindergartens were reopened.

Zoran Zaev and SDSM are unable to cope with the coronavirus crisis. After a complete fiasco in dealing with the coronavirus health crisis, today we are witnessing a fiasco in the process of reopening kindergartens and schools. The lack of a screening plan for kindergarten staff let to them being reopened without any changes in the way they function. It all started without proper staff training on how to deal with and how to behave and function during the coronavirus epidemic and without staff screening. That is why the kindergartens happen to reopen and close again. And children and their families and older family members to be at risk. Hence, the lack of screening of employees and inadequate organization are a threat to a new coronavirus cluster in kindergartens, reads one of the party’s statements.