Macedonian citizens started their first day in months with no restrictions planned on their movement. The evening curfew, that usually began around 19h, but at times during the epidemic also at 16h, has been lifted starting today, and as of tomorrow, some of the restaurants and cafes will also open.
But the decision was made without a serious change in the coronavirus statistics. There were more than 2.000 people diagnosed with the virus throughout the epidemic, and there are still between one and four dozen identified daily, and the deaths usually range between 1 and 4. Macedonia continues to have by far the worst mortality rate of the epidemic in the entire region.
Doctor Zarko Karadzovski, who runs the Committee on infectious diseases, said that the reason the restrictions were lifted is that only a little over 5 percent of the ordered tests are now coming back positive. But critics say that the situation in parts of the country is as bad as it was when the Committee proposed introducing a full quarantine on the city of Debar.
Saraj is no better than Debar was, but nobody is even considering a quarantine there. The Mayor of Saraj seems unconcerned, the citizens also. They have 50 confirmed active cases among 35.000 citizens, which means they probably have at least 500. Saraj has 10 times the number of patients than Centar or Karpos in Skopje, doctor Nikola Panovski said.
Either way, the ruling SDSM party has been eager to have elections take place as soon as possible, apparently hoping that the low turnout will improve its odds. SDSM leader Zoran Zaev was out promoting the “new normal” situation yesterday. The opposition, on the other hand, has warned that the citizens are still too wary of voting which will lead to a greatly decreased turnout and legitimacy issues, not to mention a likely serious death toll.
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