NEWS OF THE DAY: Proposal for shorter curfew, extended time for movement for young people and the elderly and mandatory wearing of face masks
The restrictions on movement might be lessened a little, but only if the personal protection measures are intensified, said today Minister of Health Venko Filipce. That means a shorter curfew, but an obligation to wear a protective face mask.
“All restrictive measures for protection against the coronavirus have given good results. The measures must remain in force until we are sure that the situation is under control and that we have passed the peak of the disease. However, the latest analyses and projections show that conditions have been created for slightly relaxing the restrictions on movement, but at the expense of strengthening the personal protection measures, and according to these analyses, the Ministry of Health and the Commission have submitted to the Government draft changes to the measures on restriction of movement and introduction of new measures for personal protection of the population”, said the Minister of health, Venko Filipce, at an online press conference.
This combination of measures, he pointed out, will allow the citizens greater movement, but at the same time will increase the need for personal protection equipment of every citizen.
“Accordingly, the proposal includes the following changes: curfew hours to start every weekday at 7pm instead of 4pm as it was until now. This way citizens will have additional hours to finish their obligations and to buy groceries. The time for movement for the elderly will be extended from 8am to 12noon, instead of 10am to 12 noon, and for the young people to the age of 18 it will be in the period from 1pm to 4pm. The proposal is for the curfew to remain for the weekend, but for it to be shorter and to start on Saturday at 1pm and end on Monday at 5am. The ban on public gathering and all other measures that are in place in terms of keeping physical distance, the use of public spaces and parks remain in force”, said Filipce.
STATE OF EMERGENCY
The Ministry of Health informs that today the Institute for Public Health has registered 24 recovered COVID-19 patients, who have been treated at home. Recovered patients by cities: Skopje – 4, Debar – 4, Strumica – 1, Kumanovo – 1, Stip – 3, Prilep – 3, Kocani – 5 and Tetovo – 3.
The Ministry outlined that over the past 24 hours, 7 new COVID-19 cases have been confirmed, as follows: Kumanovo- 2, Tetovo- 3 and Kocani- 2.
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Teams of the municipal headquarters for protection and rescue today again are delivering packages for socially endangered families. Citizens can contact the following telephone numbers 075-323-569, 075-207-126, 077-719-494 and receive packages with food and hygiene and disinfection products.
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In the past 24 hours in the country, 117 people have not complied to the ban on movement. Of them, 89 have been detained, and appropriate fines will follow for the rest.
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Prime Minister Oliver Spasovski posted on Facebook that “200 fellow citizens having recovered from COVID-19 is news that gives us additional motivation to continue jointly in the treatment and prevention against the spread of coronavirus”.
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The busses of the Skopje Public Transport Enterprise and private transporters as of today will continue to operate in two shifts, from 5am to 9am and from 1pm to 4pm.
FLASH NEWS
The excise duty on oil will increase by three denars in the Republic of North Macedonia. This decree with legal force for application of the Law on excise duty during a state of emergency today was passed by the Government as a measure for dealing with the crisis caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus.
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Prices of gasoline will increase by 3.5 denars per litre as of midnight tonight, while the price of diesel will increase by 1.5 denars, decided today the Energy Regulatory Commission.
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The increase of the excise duty on oil by three denars is an anti-crisis measure, adopted upon the proposal of the Ministry of Finance, with previous consultations with experts and all stakeholders, said today Government spokesperson Muamet Hoxha.
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A total of 73 civil society organizations, networks and platforms demand that the Government re-examines and changes the decision with which financial support for the NGO sector is reduced by about 525.000 euros.
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Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Affairs Bujar Osmani, in the capacity of National Coordinator for distribution of foreign aid in the country, held a video conference with bilateral donors.
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President Stevo Pendarovski in today’s telephone conversation with European Union Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and other Western Balkans issues, Miroslav Ljacak, concluded that by appointing a special representative, the European Union is sending a positive signal that the region is among the Union’s priorities.
А. Petrovska
translation: N. Cvetkovska
