The ban on movement across the country is enforced Friday starting at 4 pm until 5 am on Monday, which means Macedonia will be in total lockdown in the next 61 hours.

Police officers, army members, healthcare workers, firefighters and farmers are exempted from the measure, adopted by the government.

Late-opening pharmacies will operate as normal, while selected grocery stores, supermarkets and restaurants will be offering delivery services.

Businesses without work permit during the curfew will be fined. The State Market Inspectorate during the curfew will tour grocery stores during the weekend to see if they have permits, Stojko Paunovski, head of the State Market Inspectorate, said Friday.

Volunteers will be delivering products to home addresses, it was announced.

The curfew will be in force also during the coming Ester holidays, Health Minister Venko Filipce has said.

Now is the time to be patient and persevere. I know that it’s hard and religious holidays are approaching, but we all must respect measures to protect individual and public health. It would be very hard to control movement over the holidays, so extended weekend curfew should also apply during this period, Filipce said at a news conference on Thursday.