Bulgarian government extends epidemic situation until end of September

The epidemic situation due to COVID-19 has been officially extended until the end of September. This was decided by the government at a regular meeting, which took place online.The proposal for the extension came from the Minister of Health Prof. Kostadin Angelov, who presented a report to the ministers. The Minister of Health announced that information that masks will be mandatory in the open was not true. At this stage, no new restrictive measures are envisaged, the Council of Ministers said in a statement.

Sweden allows its citizens to travel to Bulgaria

Sweden withdrew its recommendation to its citizens to refrain from travelling to Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Romania for non-essential reasons, Reuters informs. The travel ban was imposed due to the risk of coronavirus infection.

Online learning to be used as temporary measure only

Bulgaria’s Ministry of Education and Science has developed two scenarios for the new school year due to the Covid-19 epidemic. Pupils will go to the classrooms on September 15, this country’s Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev told BNT. Distance form of education has not been sufficiently developed and will be used during periods of seasonal viruses only. School attendance will prevail, but communication between students from different classes or between kids from different kindergarten groups will be limited. If a child is diagnosed with a virus, the school and kindergarten authorities will try to limit the physical contacts of its classmates with pupils and children from other classes or kindergarten groups. Mandatory and optional safety measures will be adopted. Children will not be required to wear face masks in classrooms. However, wearing of face masks in common areas will be mandatory.

203 new cases of Covid-19 out of 6,232 PCR tests performed

The new cases of Covid-19 in this country are 203, which is 3.26% of the 6,232 PCR tests conducted in the past 24 hours. Most of the newly infected are in Blagoevgrad - 36, Sofia - 27, and Plovdiv - 17. This is shown by the Single Coronavirus Information Portal, "Radio Bulgaria" reported. 715 people with coronavirus infection are in hospital, 64 are in intensive care wards. Since the beginning of the pandemic in the country, 572 people with Covid-19 have passed away, 9 of them - in the past 24 hours. Those who recovered in the past 24 hours are 104.

Five migrants in Lyubimets with coronavirus infection

Five migrants from the center for accommodation of foreigners in the town of Lyubimets, southern Bulgaria, have tested positive for coronavirus. This has been announced by the regional crisis headquarters. The infected were part of a group of 19 people detained a few days ago while illegally crossing the border with Turkey. The rest of the group tested negative. All have been quarantined. A prescription for disinfection by a licensed company at the center has been issued.

Bulgaria waives VAT on import of medical equipment by end of 2020

Bulgaria’s cabinet adopted a resolution to introduce the implementation of the Commission’s decision to waive customs duties and VAT on the import of medical devices and protective equipment. The measure includes face masks and protective equipment, as well as testing kits, ventilators and other medical equipment. The measure can be extended after December 31, 2020, if necessary. On March 20,  the Commission decided to approve the requests from member states and the UK to temporarily waive customs duties and VAT on the import of medical devices and protective equipment in order to help in the fight against coronavirus.

Compiled by: Diana Tsankova