Healthcare Minister Venko Filipce warned the public that the coronavirus situation is now extremely serious, with the continued increase of the infection and mortality rates.

Filipce said that the number of deaths over the past week increased by 46 percent compared to the week before. What was an exceptionally high number of deaths per day – over 20 – is now routine. Due to the rising number of patients requiring hospitalization, the Internal Medicine Clinic in the Mother Teresa campus in Skopje will be transformed into a Covid-19 center. The Ministry was trying to set up Covid-19 wards in various clinics, but some of them, like the Neurology Clinic which cares for patients who suffered strokes, is resisting the demand. There are two main clinics for treatment of coronavirus patients in Skopje, a field hospital and part of a children’s clinic, while less severe cases are treated in two regional centers in Bitola and Stip, and in half a dozen general hospitals across the country.

As for additional steps that are going to be taken to reduces the spike in new cases, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said that he does not support introducing a new curfew. Zaev said that the public generally respects the recommendation that everybody is at home after 21h even without a legal requirement. The Government is trying to get young doctors pursuing specialization to return to their hospitals and also plans to use the military for distribution and storage.