Bulgaria’s Health Minister: Arrivals from UK, Portugal and Sweden to be still subject to quarantine

The requirement that people arriving in Bulgaria from the United Kingdom, Portugal and Sweden go into 14-day mandatory quarantine is to remain in place, Health Minister Kiril Ananiev said on July 7.

Ananiev said on July 6 that he would be issuing a new list of countries arrivals from which would be allowed to enter Bulgaria without a quarantine requirement, and those for which mandatory quarantine would remain in effect.

He made the announcement after a meeting between Prime Minister Boiko Borissov and the national operational HQ resulted in a decision to extend the Covid-19 epidemic declaration in Bulgaria to the end of July.

Ananiev told reporters that the new order had not been issued yet because negotiations with non-EU countries are continuing.

In the case of some non-EU countries, the arrangement would be on a reciprocal basis. Once clarity was reached in talks, the new order would be issued, Ananiev said.

He said that Bulgarians arriving from the UK also would continue to be subject to 14-day mandatory quarantine.

“Ultimately, our task is to preserve the health and lives of Bulgarian citizens,” Ananiev said, adding that in the UK, there was a high number of cases and a large percentage of the population were carriers of the new coronavirus.

On July 3, Bulgaria sent an inquiry to the UK government asking why it had not been included in the list of countries exempt from mandatory quarantine for arrivals as of July 10. Bulgaria’s embassy in London pointed to the country’s relatively low level of cases.

Currently, there are no restrictions on arrivals in Bulgaria from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City.

Arrivals in Bulgaria coming from Portugal and Sweden, as well as from the UK, are subject to 14 days of quarantine.

Bulgaria remains closed to arrivals of third country nationals, except for those coming from Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro.

As the official Re-open EU page points out, “the country, from which the person arrives, is the country of origin of his/her departure, regardless of his/her stay or transit through other countries during his/her movement”.

(Photo: Phillip Bramble)

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

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