The Macedonian Government is expected to meet today to discuss introducing new restrictions on movement as the Second Wave of the coronavirus epidemic is gripping the country. Most restrictions were abolished two weeks ago, when the Government declared a victory over the epidemic, but as soon as this was done numbers spiked, largely as a result of wanton disregard for social distancing orders during the Muslim month of Ramadan.

As a result the country was placed under a full or partial lockdown during the Pentecost weekend, and now the Government is deciding on a proposal to reintroduce evening curfews.

For seven days in a row there were more than a 100 newly diagnosed patients (which would amount to over 3.000 projected into a country the size of Italy). Half of the new cases are diagnosed in the capital Skopje, and most of them in the central Cair district, which is majority Muslim Albanian and where citizens have a tradition of holding long, overnight feasts during Ramadan.