TIRANA – The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in North Macedonia has risen to 974, with the death toll reaching 45, has said the health minister of North Macedonia, Venko Filipce. So far, a total of 98 patients have recovered from the infection, Filipce said in a Twitter post on Wednesday.
In mid-March, president Stevo Pendarovski declared a 30-day nationwide state of emergency over the coronavirus outbreak in the country. The government said on Tuesday it will propose to extend the state of emergency.
The government last week imposed a curfew from 4 pm to 5 am and a round-the-clock curfew on weekends for all citizens. In addition, people under the age of 18 are allowed outside their homes only between 1 pm and 3 pm, while people older than 67 years can leave their homes only between 10 am and 12 pm. The government decided on Monday to restrict movements during the upcoming Orthodox Easter by imposing an extended weekend curfew from 4 pm on Friday to 5 am on Tuesday.
In the meantime health minister Filipce said in a FB post on Thursday that he is self-confined at home because the head of the Kumanovo commune, Maksim Dimitrievski, whom he met a day earlier, had been confirmed affected with coronavirus.
“I am waiting for the epidemiologists of the Institute of Public Health who will conduct my test and those of the other government officials who were present in yesterday’s meeting,” the minister said, adding that he will stay in self-isolation until the epidemiological results will be made available. /argumentum.al
