National operational HQ: Confirmed Covid-19 cases in Bulgaria now 399
The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Bulgaria was 399 as at 5pm on March 31, having risen by 20 since the 8am update and thus by 40 since the evening briefing on Monday, according to the national operational headquarters.
This total of 399 includes eight people who died earlier this month and 17 who have recovered.
Of the 20 new cases confirmed on Tuesday, 19 are in Sofia and one in Pernik.
A total of 146 patients are in medical facilities, 14 of them in critical condition.
The total number of cases includes 20 medical personnel.
In other news related to the Covid-19 situation in Bulgaria on March 31:
The 2020 Budget Act revision, approved by the Cabinet late on March 30, has been formally submitted to Parliament. The budget and finance committee will hold a hearing on the bill on April 1 and Speaker Tsveta Karayancheva called a special sitting of the National Assembly to debate the bill on April 2, starting at 1pm. Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov said that he was hoping that Parliament would pass the Budget revision before the end of the week.
Twelve fines were issued after inspections by police, health, consumer protection and revenue officials of 38 pharmacies in Sofia, the Prosecutor’s Office said on March 31. The penalities were issued after the inspections found discrepancies between cash availability and electronically reported turnover, sale of medicines by people lacking the required educational qualifications, and a lack of prices on items on display.
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Labour and Social Policy announced that the programme to provide hot lunches to the needy was being extended until June 19 2020. The service currently is used by 20 000 people in Bulgaria. To be eligible, beneficiaries should be elderly living alone, people with disabilities or have an income below the poverty line. An additional allocation of 5.1 million leva has been made, estimated to be enough to cover the needs of about 50 000 people.
Interior Minister Mladen Marinov said that so far, 402 fines had been issued because of people violating the ban on visiting public parks and gardens. About 400 pre-trial proceedings had been started in connection with people breaking mandatory quarantine.
A curfew has been imposed throughout the district of Stara Zagora. The curfew is from 9pm to 5am. Exempt from the curfew are people required to be at work, emergency cases and people with medical problems.
Sofia mayor Yordanka Fandukova said that about 3000 deliveries of food and medicines to the elderly and people in need are being made daily in Bulgaria’s capital city. She announced that as of March 31, the municipality was launching an initiative along with the Fantastico retail chain to socially disadvantaged people. Fantastico is preparing and donating 140 hot lunches a day from now until the end of the State of Emergency.
A total of five scheduled commercial passenger flights will arrive at Sofia Airport on April 1 and seven will depart. Details in English are available at the airport’s website.
For the rest of The Sofia Globe’s continuing coverage of the Covid-19 situation in Bulgaria, please click here.
(Photo: Bulgarian Armed Forces)
