Skopje, 21 August 2021 (MIA) – Hospitals in Tetovo and Gostivar are overwhelmed with COVID patients amid a surge in new infections in the region, whereas hospitals in Kichevo and Struga are only partially occupied, said Health Minister Venko Filipche. “No one now can predict how the situation will further progress, but we do analyze the number of checkups, which is almost the same in the past couple of days. It’s too early the say whether the situation is calming down, but there are enough hospital beds for all patients who need treatment,” he told reporters on Saturday. Asked whether Tetovo and Gostivar could be put in quarantine, Minister Filipche said there is no need for such a measure at the moment and that accent is put on the vaccination campaign to further increase vaccination rates. In Skopje, he said, the clinic for infectious diseases is already full alongside the modular hospital where over 130 patients are hospitalized. Further 120 beds are provided by turning the institute for tuberculosis and the rehabilitation hospital into Covid units. “Less than eight percent of all deaths were fully vaccinated people, but they were older people with serious pre-existing conditions,” Filipche said.