Confirmed: Students go to class at beginning of school year

The new school year will start everywhere, regardless of the epidemic situation, Bulgarian Minister of Education Krassimir Valchev has confirmed at a briefing today. Despite this, it is not ruled out that changes might take place by September 15, he added.

Risk of going back to school is different for every child

"Return of children to school is a risk that can be managed," pulmonologist Dr. Alexander Simidchiev has told BNR. According to him, the risk is different for every child, as some of them have young parents, and others have older parents and with chronic diseases. In this sense, the decision of each student should be individual.

162 new cases of coronavirus4.21% of the 3,844 PCR tests performed during the past 24 hours have been positive for coronavirus. Most new infections have been registered in Sofia - 28, Blagoevgrad - 22, and Plovdiv - 13, data from the Single Coronavirus Information Portal show. 14 people with coronavirus infection passed away and 149 have recovered in the past 24 hours.There are currently 741 people in hospital, 60 of them in intensive care wards. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 384,450 tests have been conducted; out of which 15,751 were positive, which equals 4.1%. Theactive cases at the moment are 4,415.

Number of bankrupt enterprises in Bulgaria on the rise

According to the documents of the Registry Agency, in June-July 2020 the number of companies declared bankrupt rose. This is shown by a study conducted by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce on the impact of Covid-19 on the country's economy. If in June and July 2019, 42 and 53 were declared bankrupt, respectively, then in the same months of 2020 they were 62 and 70. At the end of June compared to the same month of 2019, the number of employed persons has decreased by 111.5 thousand, or by 4.7%. The biggest decline was observed in the economic activities of hotels and restaurants - 48.8 thousand, Manufacturing - 31.0 thousand, and Trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles - 12.8 thousand.

Number of trips drop because of pandemic

In July 2020, during the ongoing epidemic situation in Bulgaria, 316.6 thousand Bulgarians undertook trips abroad. This is 59.4% below the registered trips for the same month of 2019, according to data from the National Statistical Institute. In July 2020, the visits of foreigners to Bulgaria also took a plunge. For the month they were around 705 thousand, or 66.1% less than in comparison to July 2019. Transit trips through the country are 56.1% of all visits of foreigners in Bulgaria.

Over half million Bulgarians save summer tourist season

Over 550,000 Bulgarians have visited various tourist sites in this country, mainly along the Black Sea coast. Many did not go abroad. This summer some of them saw the Bulgarian Black Sea coast for the first time, Assoc. Prof. Rumen Draganov, Chairman of the Institute for Analysis and Assessment in Tourism and former Deputy Minister of Tourism, has told bTV. Bulgarians have managed to save the season. 550,000 tourists equal the entire Russian market, which remains blocked this summer, Draganov says. Thanks to Bulgarians, the business managed to cover its expenses and keep afloat. We recall that recently in front of "Radio Bulgaria" Rumen Draganov has predicted that the Covid-19 pandemic would have a healing effect on the Bulgarian tourism industry.

Compiled by: Diana Tsankova

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