President Stevo Pendarovski received today the Minister of Health, Venko Filipce, the Chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia, Lieutenant General Vasko Gjurcinovski and the Director of the Crisis Management Center, Stojance Angelov.
At the meeting, information was exchanged on the current situation with Covid-19 and the measures and activities of the competent authorities aimed at combating the pandemic.
Minister Filipce informed about the current figures of sick and dead from the corona virus, about the available capacities and resources, as well as the projections for the functioning of the health system in the country in the next period. He explained the latest decisions of the Government to accept the recommendations of the Commission for Infectious Diseases for additional restrictive measures in the period from December 18 to January 20. Minister Filipce also referred to the cooperation and support that the health authorities receive from the Army in the context of reorganization of the hospitals in the country for admission of infected patients and our citizens.
Lieutenant General Vasko Gjurcinovski referred to the Army’s participation in dealing with the corona virus and stressed that the deployment of the Army in assisting the institutions in preventing the spread of Covid-19 is going according to the planned dynamics and plan. The Chief of General Staff informed about the specific measures, the manner of deployment and use of the necessary resources of the Army, which are carried out on the basis of the requirements and operational plans of the General Staff.
The Director of the CMC, Stojance Angelov, informed about the work of the General Staff for Crisis Management at the CMC, about the measures taken and the activities of the institutions so far in dealing with the pandemic and protection of the health and life of the citizens. He stressed that their priority is rational and efficient use of the available national resources, in accordance with the Action Plan for more comprehensive action against the spread of Covid-19. Director Angelov also informed about strengthening the capacities of the General Staff for Crisis Management, with the participation of external collaborators from the non-governmental sector.
President Pendarovski, assessing that the situation with the corona virus in our country, as elsewhere in Europe, is extremely serious, called for even greater responsibility and commitment in the operations of the competent institutions. He stressed the need for full coordination and cooperation of all relevant institutions involved in activities against the spread of corona virus, as well as in dealing with the consequences caused by Covid-19.
The meeting also discussed the information adopted by the Government on vaccination against Covid-19, including the readiness of the system, the role of UNICEF as Procurement Coordinator in the COVAX mechanism, the direct negotiations with manufacturers and the European Commission and EU member states.