The National Security Council of Northern Macedonia has assessed the situation with the pandemic in the country as very serious, therefore it has proposed to the government to approve the decision to declare a state of crisis throughout the country for a period of 30 days. If the decision is approved, the Northern Macedonia Army will be involved in dealing with the pandemic, while the government will be able to administer private hospitals and other capacities to deal more effectively.
Declaring a state of crisis does not imply the application of curfew. "At the latest on Friday evening, we will hold a government meeting and if all formal legal aspects are completed, we will approve the decision. Other measures are not excluded, such as curfews, but we have not foreseen this at the moment. The recommendation remains not to gather after 22.00 and to respect all other measures that are in force", stated Prime Minister Zoran Zaev after the meeting of the Security Council chaired by President Stevo Pendarovski. North Macedonia registered on Wednesday over 1,400 infected, the highest figure since the first case of the new coronavirus was reported in February. Even deaths continue to be high. In the first three days of this week, 91 deaths were recorded, bringing the total number of victims to 1,397. The Minister of Health, Venko Filipce, said that of great importance in the battle with the pandemic are the citizens, without whose help the situation can not be stabilized, according to Radio Free Europe.
"We will not be able to resist for very long if the infections continue with this dynamic. Hospitals will be filled and we will be in a situation where we do not have beds and not enough staff to treat patients. I hope that the measures will yield results, but only if the measures are respected. "Unlike a few weeks ago, now the transmission of the virus has decreased significantly, from 1.5 to less than one," said Filipce.
The Ministry of Health announced on Thursday the hospitalization of more than 40 people in the last 24 hours alone, bringing the number of hospitalized to 438 in the infectious wards in Skopje, most of whom are in oxygen therapy. Regarding the epidemiological situation, the Macedonian opposition has once again demanded the resignation of the Minister of Health, Venko Filipce, but also the investigation of the suspicious deaths.