Doctors and nurses at the Tuberculosis center in Skopje, where patient Jugoslav Nikolic died after making dramatic appeals for funds and help, have confirmed to the press that they are not qualified and prepared to care for serious Covid-19 cases.

Nikolic sent out appeals over his Facebook account, begging for money to receive treatment in a private clinic. “I fight for every breath. The clinic is overflooded with patients. The doctors and nurses are fighting for all of us, like soldiers on the front line. But I believe that the clinic can’t provide ideal conditions to help me fight the illness”, Nikolic wrote, asking for money needed to receive blood transfusion and ozone treatment in a private clinic in Skopje. A day after the post, he died.

Speaking to the Faktor news site, doctors from the TBC center said that they are not prepared for serious cases like Nikolic’s. The little used center was turned into a Covid-19 ward only recently, as the public healthcare system struggles to cope with the flood of patients. “He was brought here in an exceptionally bad state. We are aware that we can’t do much to help him in our center. We don’t have the conditions for patients in an advanced stage. We sent messages to the Infectious Diseases Clinic, asking for accommodation. We managed to get it, but shortly after we were told that Jugoslav lost the fight”, doctors told Faktor.

Two major clinics in Skopje treat severe Covid-19 patients, but they are struggling to provide room for all patients, and other clinics and a field hospital are being hastily set up. Healthcare Minister Venko Filipce assured the public that all patients will receive treatment, but he obviously can’t vouch for the quality of care.