Bulgaria’s central bank governor tests positive for Covid-19
The governor of central Bulgarian National Bank, Dimitar Radev, is in home quarantine after testing positive on October 27 for Covid-19.
A statement said that Radev was in generally good condition and was able to perform his duties working from home.
On certain operational issues, he will delegate responsibilities to the relevant deputy governors for the duration of the quarantine. The public will be kept informed about his health, the statement said.
In other news on October 28 related to the Covid-19 crisis in Bulgaria:
Bulgaria’s Economy Minister Luchezar Borissov has become the latest member of Prime Minister Boiko Borissov’s Cabinet to go into quarantine because he had been in contact with a person who had tested positive, according to a post on Facebook by the ministry on October 28.
Luchezar Borissov had tested negative for Covid-19, the ministry said.
Boiko Borissov announced on October 25 that he had tested positive. He and a number of members of the Cabinet and top government officials with whom he had been in contact are in 10-day quarantine.
Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry said that Greece was imposing restrictions on admissions via the Kulata-Promachonas border checkpoint, allowing only cars and buses in which only Greek citizens were travelling to pass through the checkpoint between the hours of 3am and 5am.
In a separate statement, the Foreign Ministry said that the Slovenian government had added Bulgaria’s districts of Sofia city, Razgrad, Turgovishte and Sliven to its red list of risk districts in Bulgaria. Blagoevgrad district already had been on Slovenia’s red list.
Bulgarian citizens from these districts who visit Slovenia should submit a document showing a negative result of a PCR test for Covid-19 done no more than 48 hours before entering the country. The document should be issued by a laboratory of an EU member state or Schengen visa zone country recognised by the National Institute of Public Health of the Republic of Slovenia.
Those who do not present a negative test will be subject to a 10-day quarantine. A test can also be performed after the imposition of quarantine, which will be cancelled in the event of a negative result, the Foreign Ministry said.
An analysis by consulting firm Cushman and Wakefield Forton said that that currently less than a third of large companies’ staff in Sofia is working at the office.
The office market in Sofia registered moderate activity in the third quarter of 2020, with leasing contracts amounting to 18 043 square metres. Take-up volume is about 60 per cent lower than the five-year average for the July-September period.
“Many occupiers refrain from significant office space changes, due to the business uncertainty and the ongoing assessment of their future needs,” the firm said.
Preliminary results of its survey showed that more than 80 per cent of the large companies polled were not certain when they would permanently return staff to working at the office, while 15 per cent said that they would do so in spring 2021.
(Photo of Dimitar Radev: BNB)
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