The Healthcare Ministry informed that 16 municipalities have joined the program to create regional coronavirus centers in their general hospitals.

The plan involves putting in place field hospitals or adapting existing wards to treat coronavirus patients. Macedonia currently treats the most serious patients in two clinics in Skopje, which now have about 200 patients, with a third one in the capital also used to treat about three dozen patients. But about 200 patients are also treated in hospitals across the country. Some of these will now be elevated to regional centers – Gevgelija, Kumanovo, Kavadarci, Strumica, Kicevo, Debar, Gostivar, Struga, Kocani, Ohrid, Veles, Tetovo, Stip, Bitola, Resen and Prilep have agreed to enter the program.

The Ministry said that this should help in the expected autumn wave of the epidemic, although in reality Macedonia is already in a major Second Wave, sparked by the disregard for social distancing restrictions during the Muslim month of Ramadan.