Bulgaria’s health authorities planning to propose extension of emergency epidemic situation

Bulgaria’s health authorities are planning to propose extension of the emergency epidemic situation until the end of June, this country’s Chief State Health Inspector Dr. Angel Kunchev said for bTV. Many anti-epidemic measures would not be possible without such a step, explained Angel Kunchev. The green corridors for Covid-19 vaccination will remain, explained Dr. Angel Kunchev. Moreover, the health authorities will facilitate the distribution of vaccines to the general practitioners, in order to avoid crowds in front of the Sofia Regional Health Inspectorate. From now on, GPs will receive as many Covid-19 vaccines as they want, stressed Associate Professor Angel Kunchev. At the end of May the deliveries of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines will double, commented Angel Kunchev.

Bulgaria reports 203 new cases of Covid-19 out of 7,281 tests performed

203 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Bulgaria in the past 24 hours out of 7,281 tests performed, indicate data of the Single Coronavirus Information Portal. Nearly 3% of the tests have returned positive result. The highest number of new infections was reported in Sofia-44, followed by Varna-31 and Plovdiv-21. No new cases of Covid-19 have been registered in Lovech, Stara Zagora and Shumen districts. 4,839 patients are being treated in hospital, 503 of them in intensive care units. 7 people have died and 334 people have recovered in the past 24 hours. There are 34,464 active cases of Covid-19. 6,591 Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in Bulgaria in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of inoculations against the novel coronavirus to 1,113,351. 413,148 people have already received their second vaccine dose.

Bulgaria’s authorities discuss possible changes to entry rules

Children in certain age groups may not be tested for coronavirus upon entry into the country, Associate Professor Angel Kunchev said. Two options for an age limit are being discussed – children aged 2 or under or children aged 5 - 6 or under. According to Bulgaria’s Chief State Health Inspector, the second proposal will most likely be accepted, because testing younger children for coronavirus is difficult. Bulgaria’s authorities are also planning to expand the list of manufacturers of rapid Covid-19 tests, in order to lift quarantine upon entry into this country. Bulgaria will add more countries to its travel ban list due to the spread of the Indian coronavirus variant.

Compiled by: Diana Tsankova

English version: Kostadin Atanasov

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