Bulgaria’s Health Ministry: ‘First three patients cured of Covid-19 to be discharged from hospital’

The first three patients to be cured of Covid-19 will be discharged from hospital on March 21, a statement from the crisis staff posted on the website of the Bulgarian Ministry of Health said.

The three are a woman treated at the Military Medical Academy in Sofia and the first two patients who were admitted to the regional hospital in Pleven on March 8, the statement said.

In all three cases, each has shown negative results in two consecutive tests.

Crisis staff chief Major-General Ventsislav Mutafchiyski said that as of the morning of March 21, there were a total of 142 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Bulgaria. This total includes the three elderly who died from the illness, between March 11 and 19.

Mutafchiyski said that of the total number of people in Bulgaria who had tested positive, 84 (59 per cent) were men and 58 (41 per cent) were women.

The average age is 42.8 years. The youngest patient is four years old and the oldest is 81.

Protective helmets manufactured by Bulgarian industry are now available to specialists working with patients who have Covid-19.

This was one of the biggest successes at the moment, along with the protective clothing already being manufactured in Bulgaria, thanks to the efforts of Prime Minister Boiko Borissov and the mobilisation of Bulgarian manufacturers, he said.

Two hundred of the helmets would be produced daily. Teams at the Military Medical Academy and Pirogov emergency hospital in Sofia already have prototypes, Mutafchiyski said.

As soon as new quantities are available, as a matter of priority they will be provided to hospitals that have patients confirmed to have Covid-19, he said.

For the rest of The Sofia Globe’s continuing coverage of the Covid-19 situation in Bulgaria, please click here.