Austrian Ambassador George Voutsas and UNDP Resident Representative Narine Sahakyan met Thursday with Health Minister Venko Filipce on the current situation with COVID-19. In October this year, the Austria, through the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and in partnership with UNDP, continued to support Macedonia in its efforts to tackle the pandemic by donating 300 non-invasive respirators, 150 photometers and a biosecurity cabinet. The equipment will be used in the Clinic for Infectious Diseases in Skopje and in other hospitals across the country, which will increase their capacity for treatment of cases of COVID-19 with moderate to severe symptoms, in a period when there is an increase in confirmed cases. This support is part of a series of donations from Austria to help deal with the pandemic that began in May 2020 and will continue at least until the end of March 2021. Austrian hospitals are also open to COVID-19 patients from Macedonia with severe symptoms requiring urgent intensive care.