Bulgaria to reduce Covid-19 quarantine to 10 days

Mandatory quarantine in Bulgaria will be reduced to 10 days, PM Boyko Borissov said in the beginning of the second day of the European Council meeting in Brussels. Students must continue going to school, Premier Borissov said and added that Bulgaria spends over EUR 60,000 a day for PCR tests. The European Commission has already adopted a common action plan, PM Borissov pointed out. Many countries adopt measures that make other countries panic and cause discord in our actions. Bulgarians must follow the requirements of the Health Ministry. Then, we will not have to resort to other measures, Boyko Borissov also said, as quoted by BTA.

Bulgaria may lift all PCR tests that end 14-day quarantine

Not only the requirement for a second, but also the requirement for a first PCR test after 14-days of quarantine must be lifted, Bulgaria’s Chief Health Inspector Associate Professor Dr. Angel Kunchev has told BNR. We have collected enough scientific data according to which, people cannot be contagious after the 14-day quarantine even if they still carry the virus in their bodies. Many countries even reduced mandatory quarantine to 10 or 7 days. Things are clear- the number of Covid-19 cases in Bulgaria and Europe has gone up which is not surprising. Even with this growth, we continue to retain our place in the European ranking. People should follow the already well-known and repeated measures and the health system must be ready for more patients, Angel Kunchev added.

14,5% of latest coronavirus tests turn positive

A record high number of Covid-19 cases (914) have been confirmed in Bulgaria in the past 24 hours after 6,324 PCR tests performed, data of the Single Information Portal show. 14.45% of all PCR tests performed returned positive. This highest number of cases is in Sofia-260, followed by Blagoevgrad-91 and Plovdiv-85. The total number of Covid-19 cases in Bulgaria reached 27,507 out of 595,365 PCR tests performed. 1,426 patients are receiving treatment in hospitals, 74 of whom in intensive care wards. 15 people have died in the past 24 hours, thus bringing the Covid-19 death toll to 944 people. 189 Bulgarians have recovered from the virus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 16,678.

Blagoevgrad bans mass outdoor events

"Blagoevgrad Municipality bans mass indoor events for 14 days and strengthens control over compliance with measures in the market area," Mayor Rumen announced after a meeting of the crisis headquarters.

Bulgarian Covid-19 vaccine to be ready soon

The prototype of Bulgarian Covid-19 vaccine will be ready by the end of 2020. Testing depends on the authorities, Associate Professor Andrey Chorbanov, head of Immunology Department at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences has told BNT. Morbidity does not grow as quickly as the number of Covid-19 cases. We are now in a period in which coronavirus tests are predominantly made in high-risk groups. The virus will continue to spread even if the number of Covid-19 cases starts decreasing. According to the Bulgarian immunologist, the virus will not disappear before passing through all carriers.

Nearly 30,000 farmers have received support over Covid-19

Nearly 30,000 farmers have already received support under an emergency measure to compensate for the damage caused by Covid-19, the Ministry of Agriculture reported.The measure has a budget of 47 million euros, out of which about 36 million euros have already been paid. The financial assistance is in the form of a one-time sum and is targeted at the agriculture, livestock and beekeeping sectors.

You can find all stories and important publications related to Covid-19 in Bulgaria at our special coverage section in English.

You can also follow all latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak and all measures in Bulgaria in 9 more languages at Radio Bulgaria.