Health Minister Venko Filipche says curfew is not a permanent solution if citizens fail to perceive the importance of adhering to the personal protective measures

Minister Filipche told Telma TV that once the curfew is terminated, the virus spread will continue if the measures are not observed.

“Even if we recommend a full lockdown, this will happen after it ends if citizens fail to adhere to the measures. This is not a solution. That is why we are monitoring the situation, we are focusing on the transmission in kindergartens and schools, in case we need to recommend a closure in a certain municipality, but there is no transmission for the time being. This set of measures and the law amendments to be adopted in Parliament are devised so that citizens can go about their routine, while giving public health protection a priority. The curfew is not a permanent solution. Numbers will rise again in places where measures are not observed,” says Filipche.

Asked why there are no restrictions in the most affected municipalities, he says numbers are not the only indicator, but data in epidemiological surveys, the clinical picture, is transmission limited, clustering, infection source etc.

“The number of new infections from the total number of tests made means nothing, the epidemiological surveys are the important factor – where were people infected, is it a limited cluster, what is their condition and do they require hospitalization,” says Filipche.

He adds that the rise of cases was expected and warnings were aplenty during the summer period over the need to observe measures.

“We eased restrictive measures by the end of the spring but some were never terminated. We expected this wave after people returned from the annual holidays and got back to work. Higher concentration of people indoors and apparent violation of the measures has led to this situation,” says Filipche.