Government announces EUR 1 billion social and economic measures package for addressing Covid-19 crisis

Emergency epidemic situation to be extended by one month

After a meeting of the council of the ruling coalition, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov gave a briefing to announce a financial assistance package for those affected by the coronavirus pandemic crisis. The package, costing a total of over EUR 1 billion, will be targeted at pensioners, the unemployed, medical staff and businesses. Staff costs for the authorities entrusted with coping with the consequences of the pandemic are to go up by 30%. Payment for night work and overtime for frontline workers is to go up. School and child healthcare, care homes for the elderly and for the disabled will receive additional financial support from the state.

Pensioners are to receive a 50 leva (EUR 25) supplement to their pensions for three consecutive months. The minimum unemployment benefits are to go up from EUR 4.6 (9 leva) to EUR 6.14 (12 leva), and the payout deadline will be extended by three months.

The emergency epidemic situation is to be extended by one month, Boyko Borissov also announced. Read more details HERE.

Bulgaria asks Greece to open more border checkpoints

During her visit to Athens on July 27, the Bulgaria Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharievahas asked Greece to open as many border checkpoints with Bulgaria as possible, as well as to complete faster the Rudozem-Xanthi border crossing, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said. 

Currently, the only fully operational border checkpoint between Bulgaria and Greece is at Kulata-Promachonas.

PCR test for people traveling from Bulgaria to Greece by plane

Starting on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, people traveling to Greece from Bulgaria and Romania by plane must submit to the Greek border authorities a negative PCR test result, as the coronavirus test must be conducted not more than 72 hours before entering Greece. This was reported by the Bulgarian Embassy in Athens. The certificate must be in English and come from an accredited laboratory and it must include three names and the number of the passport (identity card) of the passenger.

The measure does not apply to Greek citizens, citizens with permanent residence in Greece and those traveling for business reasons. Тhe requirement to fill in an electronic passenger locator form (PLF) generating a QR code remains valid.

Bulgaria welcomes tourists from Moldova, Serbia, North Macedonia, Israel and Kuwait after PCR test

Tourists from Moldova, Serbia, North Macedonia, Israel and Kuwait will be able to enter Bulgaria after showing a negative PCR test done not more than 72 hours before their arrival, without the need for a 14-day quarantine.

This was reported at a briefing in the Council of Ministers by NFSB leader Valeri Simeonov. The decision has been made at the request of the tourism industry.

3.28% of PCR tests in past 24 hours are positive for coronavirus

115 new cases of coronavirus have been registered in Bulgaria for the past 24 hours after 3502 PCR tests. Most of the new cases of infection are in Sofia, Plovdiv and Blagoevgrad. This is shown by data in the Unified Information Portal published at midnight. Two people with Covid-19 passed away and 49 recovered during the past day.

There are 4732 active Covid-19 cases in Bulgaria with a total of 682 hospitalized patients as 34 of them are in intensive care. The total number of registered cases of Covid-19 in this country has reached 10,427 after 239,294 tests.

340 people with coronavirus have died since the beginning of the pandemic and 5355 have recovered.

EC approves subsidies for charter flights

The European Commission has approved targeted subsidies for charter flights to Bulgaria organized by tour operators. This has been announced by the Ministry of Tourism. The approval of the scheme by the EC was a prerequisite for the implementation of the measure in support of one of the most affected sectors - tourism. The subsidy is 35 euros per seat for flights with a capacity of at least 100 seats. Foreign tour operators can also benefit from the subsidy.

Subsidizing flights is expected to increase the interest of foreign tour operators in Bulgaria, as they will be able to offer better offers to tourists in Western Europe.

Bulgarians have encountered the coronavirus "CoV-2008/Bulgaria"

A new scientific publication claims that most Bulgarians have encountered a Covid-19-related virus 12 years ago. Therefore, in part, people in the country have some immunity and are not highly susceptible to the infection, said to Nova TV pulmonologist Dr. Alexander Simidchiev.

The name of the virus is "CoV-2008/Bulgaria". It was in Bulgaria in 2008 and was isolated from bats. It is possible that this is the reason why the scale of the pandemic here is not so big, Simidchiev believes.

Bulgarian economy expected to recover at end-2021

If there is no second wave of Covid-19, the crisis for the Bulgarian economy will be averagely deep, lasting from 2 to 3 quarters. The annual decline will be from 5 to 7%. The recovery will continue throughout 2021, at the end of which pre-crisis levels will be reached. Real growth will begin in 2022, suggests the Annual Report on Economic Development and Policies of Bulgaria from the Institute for Economic Research at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. 

Compiled by Darina Grigorova and Radio Bulgaria's News Team

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