The Infectious Disease Clinic in Prishtina has reported that 93 patients are currently hospitalised due to experiencing complications after developing COVID-19. Of these patients, 41 are being treated with a ventilator and five are in a critical condition. 

This marks a drastic increase from the beginning of May, when there were 42 patients hospitalised and only five people requiring the use of a ventilator. By the final week of May, the number of patients at the Clinic due to COVID-19 was often in single digits. 

The Clinic also announced that on Sunday night, a 70-year-old patient from Vushtrri passed away. The patient, who was admitted into the hospital on June 13, was suffering from other illnesses in addition to COVID-19 and is the 37th person in Kosovo to have died after testing positive for coronavirus.

On Sunday, Faik Hoti, a spokesperson at the Ministry of Health, responded to the rapid rise in the number of people hospitalised in a Facebook post, in which he criticised a lack of implementation of protective measures and negligence from citizens in attempts to contain the virus.

“Motor races, illegal weddings and parties, cafes full of people without masks, physical distancing or hygiene measures, supermarkets without protective measures, organised trips to Albania and Montenegro, Serbian elections held in the North without respecting anti-COVID measures – the number of people in the Infectious Disease Clinic is the highest since the beginning of the pandemic, and we are waiting for the number of cases to drop?” Hoti stated.

According to the National Institute of Public Health, over the last seven days, 683 people have tested positive for coronavirus, and 96 have recovered throughout the week. The latest data from the Institute suggests that there are currently 1,086 active cases across the country.

Lul Raka, a Kosovo microbiologist, is concerned about the increase in numbers. “The increase over the last week is worrying,” he wrote, adding that the capacities of health institutions are being overloaded day after day. On Monday, the Nurses’ Union called on volunteers to help support doctors at the Infectious Disease Clinic, describing the situation as “alarming.”