A total of 4783 people have broken the coronavirus curfew since its introduction on March 22 and until today, Interior Minister Nake Culev told a press conference on Wednesday.

Of those, Culev added, police detained 3110 people.

In addition, the Ministry of Interior has filed a total of 2630 charges so far, for 3137 offenses against 3412 perpetrators. Most of them are in Skopje and Bitola, whereas strongest discipline has been observed in Veles and Kumanovo, Culev said.

As regards isolation and self-isolation measures, 127 charges have been filed for 150 offenses against 169 people. In terms of the mandatory measure of wearing protective equipment, a total of 1973 violations have been observed so far.

Since the onset of the outbreak, 5030 people have been placed in state quarantine. At the moment, 816 people are placed in 11 facilities, in Skopje, Popova Sapka, Mavrovo, Ohrid, Struga and Veles.

Minister Culev noted that humanitarian flights by which nationals return home are under the jurisdiction of the Foreign Ministry, however he had been informed that arrangements have been made for 26 people to arrive home via Sofia, and another 30 are to return home from Saudi Arabia via Tirana on May 30.

In the recent period, the Department for Computer Crime and Digital Forensics has proceeded upon 57 COVID-19 hate speech-related incidents, on which grounds 33 notifications and two charges have been submitted to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Regarding cases of domestic violence during curfew, Culev said the Ministry of Interior has filed 85 charges in the period between April 12 and May 12, most of which in Skopje, Ohrid and Strumica.  In addition, there are 49 offenses against 54 people, as well as 373 complaints related to domestic violence. According to the Interior Minister, this is a 44.6 percent increase compared to complaints in the same period in 2019.

Speaking at Wednesday’s press conference, Culev underlined that despite the relaxation of the restrictive coronavirus measures, people must be aware that the virus is still here in the country, preventing us to completely return to normalcy.

“Therefore, I urge people to maintain the necessary level of responsibility and discipline and comply with the Government’s measures and decisions on mandatory wearing of protective equipment, no grouping and keeping physical distance. The Ministry of Interior remains committed to carrying out controls as regards the Government’s measures and protection of people’s health,” Culev said, thanking people for their responsible conduct and contribution to police in the fight against the pandemic.