Health Minister Sasho Klekovski announced today that the overall situation in Gostivar regarding cases with gastrointestinal problems is showing stagnation and currently no new patients requiring hospital treatment are being registered. He assured that the full water analysis data will be made public and warned that there must be no slackening in adhering to protective measures, as relaxation usually occurs precisely when the main danger has passed. According to him, now that the incubation period has passed and it is known which viral and bacterial agents are circulating, it remains essential for the population to maintain self-discipline.
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The minister appealed to the residents of Gostivar not to lower their vigilance until the completion of interventions in the water supply network. He explained that since Monday, tests show four clean points and five contaminated ones, so preventive measures must continue even though numbers are steadily declining.
Regarding the causes of the infections, Klekovski informed that astroviruses and the shigella bacterium are most frequently identified, but the results are not uniform across all samples, making it impossible to draw a single generalizing conclusion.
Clarifying his call to follow official communication channels, the minister emphasized that it was not aimed at any specific individual and he did not mention concrete names. He explained that he is guided by the recommendations of the Commission for Infectious Diseases, which includes epidemiologists, infectologists, representatives from the Institute of Public Health, regional public health centers, the Food and Veterinary Agency, and other institutions. According to him, mixing messages about the measures to be implemented does no good at these moments, explaining that this remark concerns patient behavior and not any stance towards critics of the authorities. He also recalled that water quality control is the competence of the Food and Veterinary Agency, not the Ministry of Health.
Klekovski stated that yesterday all the analyses carried out by the Public Health Center in Tetovo, namely the regional unit in Gostivar, were requested and have already been made available. These data are being processed and a detailed comparison is expected to be conducted between the sampling locations and the laboratory results obtained.
In the submitted reports, he added, there are also negative findings, however it must be seen exactly which points they correspond to, as sampling was done in many positions, from the water catchment basin to the end points at consumers.
In response to journalists’ interest, the minister acknowledged that under these conditions he cannot give a definitive answer as to when the residents of Gostivar will first have technical water and then drinking water, as this area remains under the administration of another responsible body.
