Covid-19 in Bulgaria: More districts become ‘red zones’, measures expanded
Bulgaria’s districts of Pleven, Dobrich, Razgrad, Kyustendil and Lovech have become the latest to expand restrictions in response to rising numbers of Covid-19 cases.
On October 27, Pleven banned public events throughout the district up to November 13.
Pensioners’ clubs in the district have been closed.
In the city of Pleven, a system will be developed to redirect, if necessary, patients from the University Hospital’s emergency department to another hospital.
The secondment of doctors and other medical staff to the University Hospital will be discussed if the situation worsens.
To date, Pleven has had 827 confirmed cases of new coronavirus, with an increase of 28 in the past day.
Dobrich’s regional health inspectorate has banned indoor public events up to November 15, and put a 30-person limit on indoor festive events. Dobrich has had 1002 confirmed cases to date, increasing by 14 in the past day.
The district of Razgrad has been added to the list of “red zones” in Bulgaria, after reaching a morbidity of 180 per 100 000 population over two weeks, the district administration said, citing regional health inspectorate data. The number of cases rose by 28 in the past day to a total of 477 to date.
The Kyustendil district also has been classed as a red zone. The district crisis headquarters has ordered nightclubs and bars to close. Twenty cases were confirmed in the past day, bringing the total to date to 788.
The Lovech district crisis headquarters introduced further anti-epidemic measures. The number of confirmed cases in Lovech rose by 20 in the past day to a total to date of 274.
From October 28 to November 15, night clubs and indoor and outdoor places of entertainment in the Lovech district will be closed.
Restaurants may not be open later than 11pm.
Seminars and conferences are suspended.
People in offices and markets must wear protective masks. The crisis headquarters called on employers to allow staff to work from home, where possible.
Spectators are banned from indoor sports events, and there is a 30 per cent occupancy limit on spectators at outdoor sports events.
The municipal crisis headquarters in Bulgaria’s Black Sea city of Bourgas decided to reduce the limit on spectators at sports events from 50 per cent to 30 per cent of capacity.
Decisions on allowing cultural and sports events will be made according to the expected size of the audience and the size of the venues.
At this stage, closing restaurants and night clubs in the city of Bourgas is not on the agenda.
Municipal employees will be redeployed from other departments to bolster the teams carrying out disinfection of public places, entrances to hospitals, schools and kindergartens.
Bourgas municipality is to order a further 2000 combined “rapid tests”, following requests from educational and social institutions.
Checks on wearing of protective masks in public transport in Bourgas municipality are to be stepped up.
The trend of new restrictive measures in capital city Sofia and several districts is continuing against a background of sharp increases in Covid-19 cases.
(Photo: Laurel Emo/freeimages.com)
The Sofia Globe’s coverage of the Covid-19 situation in Bulgaria is supported by the Embassies of Switzerland and Finland.
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