The number of newly diagnosed Covid-19 cases rose over 1,000 today, and 20 patients have died in the past 24 hours, the Healthcare Ministry reported. The alarming data comes as Macedonia is going deeper into a major new wave of the epidemic.

The deaths include nine patients from the capital Skopje, 3 patients from Prilep, two each from Veles and Bitola, and patients from Kumanovo, Gostivar, Kavadarci and Kocani. The total death toll of the epidemic now stands at 3,300.

There were 1,031 newly diagnosed cases – out of a total of 4,373 tests. About half of the new cases are in Skopje. Prilep and Kavadarci continue to be the second and third worst affected cities, with 64 and 53 cases respectively. The number of active cases, which was below 10,000 for weeks, now stands at 11,641. Again half of these cases are in Skopje, Prilep has 854 active cases and Kavadarci has 649.