Covid-19: Bulgaria’s Plovdiv decides against closing night clubs, discos
The Plovdiv district crisis headquarters against Covid-19 decided on October 26 against closing night clubs and discos, district governor Dani Kanazireva said.
The decision is in contrast to those by the city of Sofia and the districts of Blagoevgrad, Pernik, Shoumen and Sliven, which this past weekend ordered night clubs and discos closed for two weeks as a step towards containing the spread of Covid-19.
Kanazireva told reporters in Plovdiv: “If we at the moment close the night clubs, of which there are six to seven in Plovdiv, this will turn cocktail bars into discos. That is, we would have to close them as well, and if we close them, people will go to restaurants”.
She said that the district crisis headquarters had agreed that checks would be stepped up.
Places of entertainment were being given a 10-day grace period. Those who did not comply with the anti-epidemic measures would be shut down, Kanazireva said.
As of October 26, there would be inspections every night in all nightclubs.
In the past four days, 2581 inspections were done, as a result of which two nightclubs in the Plovdiv district were closed – one in Assenovgrad and one in Purvomay.
“We cannot punish an entire industry because some do not follow the measures,” Kanazireva said, adding that an individual approach would be applied.
“The economy must also endure. Of course, I am not saying that in a week’s time, if the situation worsens, no other measures will be taken,” she said.
Kanazireva said that the Plovdiv district had been the first to limit the capacity of night clubs to 50 per cent.
The meeting decided that a further 182 beds for coronavirus treatment will be made available in Plovdiv and the district. Of these, 130 will be in the city of Plovdiv.
Kanazireva said that this would bring the total number of hospital beds for new coronavirus treatment in the Plovdiv district to more than 500. There were also sufficient beds for intensive care treatment, she said.
(Photo of Kanazireva: pd.government.bg)
The Sofia Globe’s coverage of the Covid-19 situation in Bulgaria is supported by the Embassy of Switzerland.
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