COVID-19 pandemic in North Macedonia

The COVID-19 pandemic is occurring in North Macedonia as part of the global COVID-19 pandemic that began in China in December 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic affects the novel disease COVID-19 . This is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus from the Coronaviridae group and belongs to the group of respiratory diseases . From March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the outbreak of the novel coronavirus as a global pandemic .

course

On February 26, 2020, the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in North Macedonia. It was a woman who had returned from Italy. As early as March 20, 2020, when there were only 85 cases, the age of the infected was given as 4 to 87 years. The largest group was made up of those over 60 (19 people). 23 people were admitted to hospitals, the others were sent to house isolation. In one case, ventilation was necessary. In addition, six of the 85 people infected were medical staff. 17 cases alone were classified as "imported", with three cases of contact with infected people abroad being proven. A total of 486 contacts from these people were found and therefore Debar classified as an area with widespread transmission (WHO phase 4) and the capital Skopje as an area with local transmission (WHO phase 3). For the rest of the country, there was talk of sporadic cases (WHO phase 2). Debar and Centar Župa were placed in quarantine.

The parliamentary election scheduled for April 12, 2020 has been postponed.

As of April 12, 2020, a total of 854 cases of COVID-19 (41.3 / 100,000), including 38 deaths, had been reported. Most cases of infection were now in Skopje (316) and Kumanovo (211), the two largest cities in the country. In Kumanovo this corresponds to 147.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, in Debar this value was even exceeded with 176.5 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The two largest cities also had the highest number of deaths: Kumanovo with ten and Skopje with seven, followed by Struga (6), Tetovo (4) and Prilep (2). The proportion of women (455) was significantly higher than that of men (399). The age range of the positive cases had increased to 0 to 91. The largest groups of those infected were people aged 50 to 59 (184 people; 21.5%) and people over 60 (179 people; 20.9%). 67 people were under 20 years old, which corresponds to 7.8 percent. The highest number of new reports to date was registered on April 4th with 72 cases. A total of 198 people had to be taken to hospitals. The most common symptoms were still fever (63.9%), cough (57.8%), and weakness (34.2%). In 261 of the people who tested positive (30.6%), no symptoms were found until then. Almost a quarter of all infected people (242 people) have previous health problems. The proportion of medical staff (здравствени работници, i.e. those working in the health care system ) remains high (121 cases). So far 44 people are considered cured. Of the 38 deaths, 25 were 60 years of age or older, and 29 had so-called comorbidities . Of the 85 cases that have now been imported, only one was found directly at the airport. Contact with an infected person is proven in 505 of the 854 infected people. So far, 8552 samples have been tested, so it was around 10% of all tests with positive Covid-19 results. The proportion of state tests is significantly higher than that of others. The Жан Митрев clinic in Skopje tested 2,192 people, of which 92 tests showed a positive Covid-19 result. The ИЈЗ ( Институт за јавно здравје ; Institute for Public Health), however, had 724 positive Covid-19 results in 5649 tests.

After Debar, Skopje and Kumanovo were also classified in WHO phase 4 (widespread transmission), the rest of the country in phase 3 (local transmission). Since March 18, the state of emergency has been in force across the country. This means, among other things, that the population is not allowed to be outside between 4 p.m. and 5 a.m., not at all on weekends. Leaving the house has been restricted even more for people over 67 years of age. They are only allowed outside from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., people up to 18 years only from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

In mid-May, 1,251 of 1,740 infected people were healed and 97 died. The remaining 392 cases were considered active - of which 32 were acute (oxygen supply, artificial ventilation). A total of 20,548 tests have been carried out so far.

After the first easing in May 2020, there was a relatively sharp increase in the number of infections. In the more than three months that had passed by then, the value of 70 new infections a day was only exceeded three times (in April 2020). After being surpassed three times in three days at the beginning of June, a total curfew was imposed for twelve cities, including the capital Skopje, which came into effect on June 4 at 9 p.m. and initially lasted until 5 a.m. on June 8 . In the rest of the country it was limited to 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day. In addition, June 5th (a Friday) was declared a day off. The number of new infections rose well above average during this period and exceeded the previous peak of 117 new infections on April 11, 2020 on June 4, 5 and 6, 2020. Within one week (May 31 to June 6 2020) there were 751 newly infected people, significantly more than in the entire month of May. On June 7, the three thousandth infected person was reported. 1,226 were counted as active cases, more than half of them (658) in Skopje. In 27 of the 62 newly admitted patients to the University Clinic for Infectious Diseases in Skopje ( Инфективна клиника Скопје ) oxygen supply was necessary at this time. The number of tests carried out to date was 36,325. In Kočani, 9 kindergarten employees tested positive for Covid-19.

In connection with the new outbreak at the beginning of June 2020, isolation was ordered for over 500 people on June 7th alone. The police began to patrol isolated cases, but initially could not find any violations. In over 300 cases, however, a lack of face protection was found, and there were at least 180 arrests for violating the curfew.

statistics

The number of cases developed during the COVID-19 pandemic in North Macedonia as follows:

Infections

Confirmed infections (cumulative) in North Macedonia
(April 16 to August 16, 2020) according to WHO data

Confirmed infections (cumulative) in North Macedonia over the course of the week
according to WHO data

New infections in North Macedonia
(April 16 to August 16, 2020) according to WHO data

New infections (per calendar week) in North Macedonia
according to WHO data

Deaths

Confirmed deaths (cumulative) in North Macedonia
(April 16 to August 16, 2020) according to WHO data

Confirmed deaths (cumulative) in North Macedonia over the course of the week
according to WHO data

Confirmed deaths (daily) in North Macedonia
(April 16 to August 16, 2020) according to WHO data

Confirmed deaths (per calendar week) in North Macedonia
according to WHO data

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Since August 17, 2020, the WHO reports have only been published weekly, but contain additional information (around cases per million inhabitants). The last daily WHO report ( No. 209 , pdf) was published on August 16, 2020.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} This lists cases that have been reported to WHO by national authorities. Since the situation is very dynamic, there may be discrepancies or delays between the cases of the WHO and the data of national authorities as well as the information provided by other bodies, such as the Johns Hopkins University (CSSE).

Regional distribution

As of May 15, 2020, five cities have reported more than 100 cases of infected people:

• Skopje 592 infected people, 134 of them still active
• Kumanovo 413 infected, of which 43 are still active
• Prilep 193 infected, 63 of them still active
• Tetovo 131 infected, 68 of them still active
• Veles 113 infected people, 49 of them still active

As of July 17, 2020, there were twelve cities with over 100 cases of infected people:

• Skopje 4,141 infected people, of which 1837 were still active
• Tetovo 906 infected, of which 295 are still active
• Kumanovo 894 infected people, 226 of them still active
• Štip 510 infected, of which 213 are still active
• Prilep 306 infected, 57 of them still active
• Struga 348 infected people, 169 of them still active
• Gostivar 272 infected people, 177 of them still active
• Ohrid 229 infected, 114 of them still active
• Veles 205 infected, 30 of them still active
• Sveti Nikole 179 infected, 164 of them still active
• Debar 172 infected people, 110 of them still active
• There were 140 infected people, 66 of them still active

This means that almost half of all 8,786 infected people and almost half of all 3,704 active cases in the country were registered in the capital Skopje. Each of over five percent of all known active cases were also in the cities of Tetovo (fifth largest city in the country; west of Skopje), Kumanovo (second largest city in the country; northeast of Skopje) and Štip (sixth largest city in the country; southeast of Skopje). The third largest city in the country (Bitola; in the south) reported only 85 cases, of which 41 were active.

See also

• List of epidemics and pandemics
• List of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic

Web links

Commons : COVID-19 Pandemic in North Macedonia  - Pictures, Videos and Audio Files Collection

• World Health Organization (WHO): Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) situation reports on the website www.who.int (English)
• Johns Hopkins CSSE : Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases. (English)
• Website World of Meters : real-time data of the Corona virus pandemic (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Мери Јордановска: Прв случај на заболен од коронавирус во Македонија , a1on.mk, February 26, 2020, accessed April 14, 2020 (Macedonian).
2. ↑ Состојба со COVID-19 во Северна Македонија и светот (pdf), Ministry of Health (Министерство за здравство), March 20, 2020, accessed April 14, 2020 (March 14, 2020).
3. ↑ ORF of March 17, 2020
4. ↑ ^{a b} Состојба со COVID-19 во Северна Македонија и светот , Ministry of Health (Министерство за здравство), April 12, 2020, accessed April 14, 2020 (Macedonian).
5. ↑ ^{a b} ДЕНЕСКА ОЗДРАВЕНИ 16 ПАЦИЕНТИ, ПОТВРДЕНИ 17 НОВИ СЛУЧАИ СО КОВИД-19, ПОЧИНАТИ ДВЕ ЛИЦА, ВКУПНО ДИЈАГНОСТИЦИРАНИ 1740. Ministry of Health (Министерство за здравство), May 15, 2020 accessed on May 15, 2020 (macedonian). 
6. ↑ Coronavirus: Another curfew in North Macedonia. Oberösterreichisches Volksblatt , June 4, 2020, accessed on June 8, 2020 . 
7. ↑ ДЕНЕСКА СЕ ПОТВРДЕНИ 111 НОВИ СЛУЧАИ НА КОВИД 19 - ВКУПНАТА БРОЈКА НА ДИЈАГНОСТИЦИРАНИ 3025, ОЗДРАВИ ПИТИ ПИТИАТИ ПИНАИ ПИТИАТИАТИ ПИТИАИТИАИТИАИТИАИТИАИТИАИТИАИТИОИТИАИТИАИТИАИТИАИТИАТИАИТИИИ than Ministry of Health (Министерство за здравство), June 7, 2020, accessed June 8, 2020 (Macedonian). 
8. ↑ Приведени 180 лица кои не го почитувале полицискиот час. Večer , June 8, 2020, accessed June 8, 2020 (Macedonian). 
9. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) situation reports. WHO, accessed on May 2, 2020 . 
10. ↑ ^{a b c d} As of August 16, 2020, the daily announcement of the figures was changed to a weekly rhythm. The numbers of the first weekly report ( August 17, 2020 , pdf) are identical to those of the WHO report No. 209 (August 16, 2020, pdf) and are also based on the status of August 16, 2020 at 10 a.m. after the report itself is shown . They can therefore be continued seamlessly from the second weekly report ( August 24, 2020 , pdf), as this was announced accordingly at 10 a.m. on August 23, 2020. In order not to make this too confusing, the date of the publication (August 24th) is not used here for the database (August 23rd).
11. ↑ ДЕНЕСКА СЕ РЕГИСТРИРАНИ 164 НОВИ СЛУЧАИ НА КОВИД 19-ВКУПНАТА БРОЈКА НА ДИЈАГНОСТИЦИРАНИ 8786, ЗДРАВЕНИ, ЦИПЕН ИИРАНИ 8786, ЗДААВЕНИ ЦИПЕ ПЕАН ПИАНИ ПИЕПЕАТАААНИ. Ministry of Health (Министерство за здравство), July 17, 2020, accessed August 18, 2020 (Macedonian).