Today, we held the 9th session of the Security Council which was attended by all permanent members of the Council, except Professor Markovic, who is absent due to professional duties, and the Minister of Interior, Oliver Spasovski, who is corona virus positive, to whom we all wish fast recovery. Beside the permanent members, at my invitation, the Minister of Health, Venko Filipce, attended the session.
We had only one item on the agenda – the current situation with Covid-19 and the measures and activities taken by the competent authorities to deal with the pandemic.
Minister Filipce informed us about the latest situation, the engaged capacities, human and material resources, the work of the Commission for Infectious Diseases and the work plans of the hospitals throughout the country to accept the influx of new patients.
The Prime Minister informed in detail about the Government’s measures to support the domestic economy and all categories of citizens affected by the pandemic.
We were also informed about the functioning of the Central Crisis Staff. The people in the crisis headquarters follow on a daily basis what is happening in the region and in Europe and are ready to practically apply the best models in our country as soon as possible.
Due to the autumn surge of the pandemic, the health system is being reorganized, additional facilities are being engaged, maximum efforts are being made to test as many people as possible, and to care for and treat as many patients as possible. Unfortunately, we are witnessing that the situation is not improving; there is a significant number of patients every day, and the number of deaths due to Covid-19 is also increasing.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are witnessing that even the most developed countries and the richest economies are having a hard time coping with this unprecedented situation. Having said that, I do not ask for justification for every move made by our authorities in the last 8 months. However, regarding the set of measures applied by our health authorities, it is clear that there are no measures that are recommended by the WHO or are applied in some other countries and give positive effects that are not applied in our country as well. The essence of the health measures is the same; the difference is only in the level of their observance by the citizens and the level of implementation of the laws by the state institutions.
On this occasion, I would like to emphasize that neither the Government, the Ministry, nor the Commission for Infectious Diseases has gathered the entire knowledge and all the experience in the world, so any well-intentioned and constructive criticism to improve our national, state response to the pandemic is welcome. In the Ministry and in the Government as a whole, there is and there must be good will and readiness for all useful ideas and proposals to be accepted.
Of course, I personally do not expect and I think that no one expects this situation to be used for political profit, because, I believe that no one even thinks to make political profit out of this because, in reality, we are all losers with such high numbers of infected and deceased fellow citizens which we record every day.
Allow me once again, on behalf of all those present at the meeting, to pay tribute to all individuals, services and institutions in the health sector who work around the clock to prevent and combat the effects of the pandemic. The situation is extremely serious, human and material resources are practically exploited to their maximum, and given that the season of seasonal flu is approaching, the coming weeks will certainly not be easier.
In order to persevere, as never before, we need responsibility, solidarity and caution. And, another appeal to the citizens – in the absence of a vaccine or cure for this disease, there is no alternative but to consistently adhere to the protective protocols – physical distance, wearing face masks and a drastically reduced number of social and family gatherings.
Please do this for yourself and for your loved ones.
Thank you.
