Easing of anti-Covid restrictions as of today: shopping malls and casinos reopen

By order of the Minister of Health from April 8, 2021, as of today visits to gaming halls and casinos are allowed under thecondition of using no more than 50% of their capacity. Restrictions on the operation of facilities located in large shopping centers are also lifted.
On April 29, discos and bars will be opened, also under the condition of using no more than 50% of their capacity.

Two cases of Covid-19 mutations in northern Bulgaria: briefing by health authorities

"Spike protein mutations were found in two women from northern Bulgaria infected with the British strain of Covid-19," Prof. Todor Kantardzhiev, director of the National Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, said at a briefing of the health authorities today. "This is a strain that causes concern, but we do not expect it to lead to the need for a new treatment or vaccine," he added. A so-called mutation sequencing at the Institute of Molecular Biology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is being conducted. The two women were treated at home and are now in good health.

Bulgaria is on track to cope with the third wave, but under certain conditions: briefing by health authorities

“We have been coping well with the third wave of Covid-19; the measures taken were timely and yielded positive results,” outgoing Minister of Health Prof. Kostadin Angelov summed up the situation.  "The healthcare system is now able to withstand significantly more pressure," he added. According to him, the trend of reducing the number of hospitalized patients is now constant and this will be more noticeable in a few weeks. The number of recoveries continues to exceed that of the new infections. The minister outlined three scenarios for achieving collective immunity. According to the most optimistic one, such immunity would be achieved at the end of June and according to the most pessimistic - at the end of August. After that we will be able to lift all measures or keep a minimum amount of restrictions in place.

More from today’s briefing by the health authorities here

Parties criticize dissolution of Operational Headquarters for combating Covid-19

MPs from Democratic Bulgaria, Stand Up! Thugs Out!, There Is Such a People and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms criticized the dissolution, by the government, of the Operational Headquarters for combating Covid-19. Most described the dissolution as irresponsible at the backdrop of the medical crisis. There Is Such a People said that the dissolution was delayed and that when they had the opportunity to govern, they would appoint "professionals, not people who carry out political orders."
The outgoing Minister of Health Prof. Kostadin Angelov replied that the headquarters was created by people of high repute with a high sense of responsibility, but that according to the law it is the minister, not the headquarters that is responsible for people's health.

Bulgarian Medical Association calls for new state body for Covid-19 response to be formed quickly

The vacuum created by the dissolution of the National Operational Headquarters for combatting the Covid-19 pandemic must be filled as soon as possible, the chairman of the Bulgarian Medical Association, Dr. Ivan Madzharov, said in an interview for BNT.
An operational state body is needed to monitor, analyze and offer solutions in this situation, because there is definitely no evidence that the virus is gone and we are returning to our normal way of life, Dr. Madzharov said.
"You know that various experts are involved in the headquarters, and mathematical models are played out there," said Dr. Madzharov. According to him, if the Ministry of Health temporarily undertakes this task, it should only be for a briefperiod and a new body should be set up as soon as possible.

Bulgaria reports daily 2,185 cases of Covid-19

Bulgaria has reported 2,185 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, according to the data of the Single Information Portal, updated at midnight. Nearly 15 percent of the 14,747 tests performed returned positive.
The highest number of new cases are in Sofia-city - 538, followed by Plovdiv (232), Varna (207) and Burgas (125). 62 new cases were registered in the last 24 hours among medical staff.
108 people have died and 3,393 have recovered from the infection. A total of 9,523 coronavirus patients remain in hospital, of whom 811 are in intensive care units.

The total number of vaccine doses administered in Bulgaria is over 620,000, and of them 14,998 in the past day. The number of vaccinated persons with a second dose is currently 123,381.

Businesses in Bulgaria demand extension of government support

54% of the members of the Bulgarian Industrial Assocation expect difficulties in repaying their bank debts after the end of the credit moratorium, according to a survey conducted between April 13-15, 2021.

79% report deteriorating economic indicators of their businesses. 50.6% say that  that they expect be able to recover economically by the end of 2022. Only 18.3% expect a recovery by the end of 2021. Over 25% of businesses hope for this after 2022.
74% of respondents rely on employment support measures and 68% need liquidity support. Most respondents expect an extension of the existing economic support measures and suggest changing them so that a wider range of companies can benefit from them, BGNES reports.

Bulgaria lags behind in attracting foreign tourists

The countries neighbouring on Bulgaria have started to actively attract tourists from Israel, Great Britain, Russia and Romania by offering them preferential conditions. Before a European travel regulation has been adopted, they announced that they would welcome foreign guests who had been vaccinated, have had coronavirus or have a negative PCR test, Rumen Draganov, chairman of the Institute for Analysis and Evaluation in Tourism, told BNR. He called for a PCR test to be required only for travellers from certain high-risk countries, and with the introduction of the electronic travel certificate, to introduce also electronic visas, including for Russian tourists.

Congresses and conferences allowed as of Monday

Compiled by Yoan Kolev

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