In the past two days, North Macedonia has attributed 62 deaths to COVID-19, while the country is among the worst-hit in the Western Balkans region, counting over 3.600 victims.
On Friday, 33 patients lost the battle to the virus and 1.422 citizens tested positive taking the total number of active infections across the country to more than 17.000.
According to the Ministry of Health, the country has been grappling with surging COVID-19 cases due to the new variant detected for the first time in the UK believed to spread at a much higher rate than previous strains.
Although there are no clear data on the epidemiological situation due to lacking testing infrastructure, estimates suggest that 50%-70% of the new cases might be attributed to the UK variant.
Euronews Albania’s correspondent in Skopje, Benjamin Arifi, said that according to experts the rising infection rates come as a result of the British mutation resulting in a clinical deterioration 3-5 days after the patient contracts the virus and apart from affecting the lungs, it also attacks other organs.
Experts believe that this is the reason why many patients without underlying conditions are losing the battle against COVID-19.
Vaccine rollout in North Macedonia has been affected by delays, while so far only medical staff has been inoculated.
On Sunday, 24.000 AstraZeneca jabs are expected to be delivered from COVAX, while so far the country has received 8.000 Pfizer doses, as a donation from Serbia, and 3.000 from Sputnik V sent by Russia.
