Covid-19 in Bulgaria, roundup April 22: Government VAT-exempts essential medicines, PPE
Medicines, medical devices and personal protective equipment essential to the fight against Covid-19 will be exempted from import duties and value-added tax, Bulgaria’s Cabinet decided at an online meeting on April 22.
The government also expanded the scope of the ban on exporting to non-EU countries without the authorisation of the Minister of Health goods such as disinfectants, to include other items such as disposable overalls, safety goggles, nitrile gloves, among others.
On the evening of April 22, the national operational headquarters said that there were now 1024 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Bulgaria, an increase of nine since the morning update and an increase of 49 since the update on the evening of April 21.
Since the morning update, the death toll has risen by two, to 49.
A total of 174 patients have recovered from the illness, the operational HQ said.
There are 262 people in hospital, 37 of them in intensive care.
Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov, replying to a written parliamentary question, said that between March 13 – the date that the National Assembly voted the State of Emergency – and April 14, petrol consumption in Bulgaria fell by 35.5 per cent compared with the same period in 2019, while diesel consumption fell by 23.7 per cent.
The reduced consumption, combined with falling oil prices, is estimated to mean that value-added tax revenue for Bulgaria’s budget this year would fall by about 350 million leva, 35 per cent lower than had been projected for 2020, Goranov said.
(Photo: Military Medical Academy)
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