Plovdiv closes schools for rest of week to counter spread of flu
Plovdiv mayor Ivan Totev has announced that schools in Bulgaria’s second-largest city will be closed from February 9 2016 until the end of the week to counter the spread of influenza.
Kindergartens will remain open but precautions against the spread of illness will be strengthened.
Totev said that the decision to close schools was taken after the municipality received a letter from the Regional Inspectorate of Education. Hospitals in the city received 148 children with flu symptoms on February 6 and 137 on February 7.
The city has not declared a flu epidemic.
Plovdiv’s Sveti Georgi University Hospital said that it had admitted 20 children in a serious condition in recent days. The children had complications including difficulty in breathing, vomiting,
diarrhoea and fever, but their condition was not critical.
Stara Zagora declared a flu epidemic on February 5. The declaration is expected to continue in force throughout this week as the number of people with flu is continuing to increase.
Public broadcaster Bulgarian National Television said that declarations of flu epidemics were likely in five regions, Pazardzhik, Gabrovo, Vidin, Sliven and Yambol.
