Health Minister Venko Filipche said Tuesday there is no need to enforce a curfew for the time being but highlighted the importance of adhering to the existing measures due to the serious pressure on the health system and the filling up of hospital capacities and the lack of medical staff.

“Analyses show that the virus transmission factor R0 has dropped from 1,5 to nearly 1,” said Minister Filipche.

He added that measures are yielding results but issued a warning that the virus is unpredictable and the clinical state of a patient could worsen at any given time, resulting in a rising number of hospitalized patients, which is a heavy burden for the health system.

“Many departments are re-adapted for treatment of COVID-19 patients. It is very likely that in a short time this could lead to disruptions in the normal operations of the departments, both in terms of checkups and interventions,” said Filipche.

According to him, all medical workers are committed to their job but things are getting increasingly difficult.

“Unlike the spring and the summer, the virus has a strong local transmission during this period. Current measures are giving the initial results but it is too early to talk about complete elimination of the risk when it comes to hospitalizations and the filling up of capacities, accompanied by the lack of medical staff,” noted Filipche.

He said the situation is monitored on a daily basis and if necessary, the Commission for Infectious Diseases and the Ministry of Health would recommend further restrictions, such as a curfew.