Bulgarian authorities adopt National Preparedness Plan for pandemic

At a briefing today, Bulgaria's Minister of Health Prof. Kostadin Angelov, the Chairman of the National Coronavirus Response Operational Staff Prof. Ventsislav Mutafchiiski and the Chief State Health Inspector Angel Kunchev presented Bulgaria's National Plan or Pandemic Preparedness, adopted at today's government meeting. The plan is general in nature and will be valid for all possible pandemics. It provides basic guidelines for interrupting the epidemic process, procuring vaccines, the normal functioning of the state, as well as the messages that will be sent to the population, Kunchev said. Minister Angelov has reaffirmed that the vaccines that Bulgarians will receive are the same that will be received by citizens of other EU member states, and will be administered voluntarily and free of charge for Bulgarian citizens. A National Vaccination Plan is to be drawn up by Thursday, which will be presented at the next government meeting. The first vaccines are expected by the end of this year or the beginning of next year. By the end of this week, 4 refrigerators will be provided for the first delivery of the Pfizer vaccine. The General Director of the Bulgarian Red Cross, Prof. Krassimir Gigov, has been appointed as coordinator of the National Vaccination Plan.

Bulgaria reports 3,475 new cases of Covid-19

Bulgaria has registered 3,475 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours. This is 38.37% of the 9,056 PCR tests performed. The highest number of new cases is registered in Sofia - 722, followed by Plovdiv - 355, and Burgas - 318. This is shown by the data of the National Coronavirus Information Portal. 153 people died of Covid-19 complications in the last 24 hours. 2,435 persons were cured. There are currently 6,635 people with Covid-19 in hospital, 493 of them in the intensive care units. The active cases at the moment are 91,587. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Covid-19 has been confirmed in 6,236 medical personnel. 208 of them were registered during the past 24 hours.

Bulgaria receives 300,000 doses of low-molecular-weight heparin for treating Covid-19

Today, 300,000 doses of low-molecular-weight heparin have arrived in Bulgaria. The medicine is used along with other drugs in the treatment of Covid-19. At today's government meeting, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov pointed out that Bulgaria had enough supplies of the anti-viral medication Remdesivir, another drug used for treatment of a coronavirus infection. He has ordered daily monitoring of the availability of drugs for the treatment of patients with the new coronavirus, BNR has reported.

In 2021 Bulgaria is to rely on 411 million euros to cope with Covid-19 crisis

In 2021, a total of EUR 411 million will be allocated to Bulgaria under the REACT-EU initiative to deal with the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, this country’s Deputy Premier Tomislav Donchev announced during today’s meeting of Bulgaria’s cabinet, quoted by BTA. These funds will finance measures to support investments in health care products and services. The money will be also earmarked for investment support for small and medium-sized enterprises, employment schemes and support for the self-employed.

Bulgarian hotels report 80% decline in turnover

Hotels have reported 80% decline in their turnovers in 2020, Borislav Hadjiev from the Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association said for BTV. In his words, so far the hotel business has not felt real help from the state. The industry has benefited from the "60:40" wage support scheme, but, according to Hadjiev, it is aimed at helping people keep their jobs, not at supporting business. "At some point, it may turn out that the business does not exist anymore and this measure will no longer be useful," Hadjiev commented. He explained that the hotels are not formally closed now, but their business has ceased because between 30% and 50% of their income comes from additional services – catering services, conferences, etc., which are currently unavailable.

Extraordinary funds allocated for promoting winter tourism

The Bulgarian government has approved a rise in the budget of the Ministry of Tourism by 1,245,000 euros, BTA has reported. The money aimed at a massive advertising campaign to promote winter tourism in Bulgaria, both in the domestic and in target markets for this country. The advertising campaign is one of the many steps taken by the ministry to save the winter tourist season and stabilize the Bulgarian tourism business, which was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. The international advertising campaign will be aimed mainly at the citizens of Romania, Greece, Turkey, Serbia and North Macedonia, because they can travel to the country by car.

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Compiled by: D. Grigorova