Interior Minister Nake Culev said that it is in the interest of public health not to have too lengthy curfews imposed on the citizens.

Their physical healthcare requires that the curfew is made shorter, Culev said, pointing to the issues coming from lack of movement and being locked into the house for hours on end.

Culev visited Ohrid and Struga, and went to the Drim hotel, which is used to quarantine 200 Macedonian citizens, most of whom came back from Italy where they worked before the epidemic. He praised the work of the officers, who he said are helping the public overcome the crisis.

Asked about the fire that ripped through the Fountain cafe in Skopje’s Mavrovka mall, the Minister said that it is too early to discuss the investigation, and that security cameras are being checked. The cafe, that was completely destroyed in a huge blaze overnight, was the target of a bomb attack a year ago.

And regarding the raid in Strumica, where the police detained people from an NGO linked to the ruling SDSM party who were distributing food in an apparent attempt to bribe voters, Culev said that the officers acted in accordance with the usual procedures in such crimes. The donations were being made by SDSM party leader Zoran Zaev, apparently as part of a campaign to bribe the poorest local voters with food in exchange for their votes, that was put in place for the now cancelled April 12 elections.