Healthcare Minister Venko Filipce said that the 14 people who were in the van that took the first confirmed coronavirus patient from Italy to Macedonia are still not in quarantine. Filipce said that the Ministry is working to get in touch with them, and once they’re located, they will be put in isolation.

The confirmed patient is a 50 year old woman who spent a month in Italy, in areas which now have a large number of coronavirus cases. She felt ill and sought treatment there but then decided to return to Macedonia and checked in the Infectious Diseases Clinic as soon as she arrived.

Filipce called on companies who employ people who have been to Italy recently to let them skip work for two weeks, which is the incubation period for the virus.

Citizens who develop flu like symptoms and could have been exposed to the virus are urged to remain at home and seek treatment over the phone, and avoid frequenting hospitals where they can put other people at risk.