Clinics in the large Mother Teresa medical center in Skopje are preparing to begin admitting Covid-19 patients, as room in the two clinics used for this purpose so far is running out.

Healthcare Minister Venko Filipce said that 150 hospital beds are prepared across the center and staff is being trained to handle coronavirus patients. The Mother Teresa center already houses the Infectious Diseases Clinic, which was the first clinic to treat Covid-19 patients, and as numbers grew, an equal number of patients was treated at the “8th of September” hospital located in the Karpos part of the city. Patients are also admitted at the Kozle children’s hospital, in regional centers in Bitola and Stip, and in wards in general hospitals across the country, as well as in two private clinics in Skopje.

Filipce said that the Pulmonary Institute is already receiving Covid-19 patients, and that other clinics are also being prepared and staff is being mobilized. Numbers of new cases are spiking at nearly 1,000 a day, quadruple from what was considered a high level during the spring and summer. Some of the clinics have opted out from admitting Covid-19 patients – the heads of the Neurology Clinic determined that a spread of the virus among its patients will be devastating, and insists that stroke patients can’t wait for the epidemic to pass.