During his visit to Stip, Healthcare Minister Venko Filipce was met by protesters, who blamed him for the delays that left the city without a proper hospital.

Filipce came to the city to inspect construction of a small field hospital meant to help the dilapidated general hospital which treats Covid-19 patients from Stip and much of eastern Macedonia. But a much more ambitious, modern clinical center was under construction by 2017, when the SDSM party grabbed power, and work quickly stopped. The skeleton of this hospital now remains unused, while dozens of Covid-19 patients from the region are treated in horrific conditions.

You could’ve used the money for the elections to finish the hospital, signs said. The SDSM party insisted to hold mayoral elections on Sunday, despite opposition boycott due to the exceptionally high risk of infection and the fact that regularly scheduled elections take place in fall.