Covid-19: Bulgaria’s capital imposes curfew on restaurants and bars
Bulgaria’s capital city Sofia is imposing a curfew on restaurants and bars of 11.30pm as a measure against the spread of Covid-19, mayor Yordanka Fandukova said in a Facebook post on October 30.
The measure will be in effect from November 1 to 12.
Fandukova said that the proposal to limit opening hours came from industry organisations.
She said that police and city health inspectors had, the night before, found night clubs open in contravention of the ban, and attempts to circumvent the restrictions in Health Minister Kostadin Angelov’s order.
Fandukova said that the number of people in hospital and the number of patients in need of intensive care were increasing, and she reiterated her call for people to comply with anti-epidemic measures.
Other places that already have imposed curfews, after Angelov announced new restrictions to curb the sharp rise in Covid-19 in Bulgaria, include Plovdiv, where restaurants must close by 11.30pm, and Blagoevgrad, where they must close by 9pm.
In other news on October 30 related to the Covid-19 situation in Bulgaria:
An Interior Ministry statement said that Sofia police are carrying out “intensified inspections” of compliance with Angelov’s order to stop visits to night clubs.
The statement said that between October 24 and 29, more than 40 establishments in Sofia had been inspected. A club in Studentski Grad was found to be in violation of the anti-epidemic measures and was fined.
Interior Minister Hristo Terziyski told reporters in Parliament that more than 18 000 fines for not wearing a protective mask had been issued.
On October 29 alone, six pre-trial proceedings for violating mandatory quarantine had been initiated.
To date, more than 33 000 people in Bulgaria have been quarantined.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 3100 pre-trial proceedings had been initiated for violating quarantine. About 500 sentences had been handed down, most probation or probation and fines.
Prime Minister Boiko Borissov’s GERB party has tabled in Parliament a proposal to reduce value-added tax on home food deliveries from 20 to nine per cent.
The district of Pernik has suspended the holding of collective and individual sports events for all age groups.
Gambling halls must close at 10pm. There may be no more than 50 guests at a wedding, and for baptisms, no more than 30 people indoors. These measures come into effect on October 30 for a period of 14 days.
Flag carrier Bulgaria Air said in a media statement on October 30 that it was the first airline on the Bulgarian market to introduce an extremely modern and innovative UV technology for disinfection of its aircraft.
From
the beginning of November, in addition to disinfection with certified
preparations, before each flight the interior of the aircraft will be
treated with a specially designed system with ultraviolet rays, the
Honeywell UV Cabin System II.
The device is specially adapted
for aviation, similar to the UV disinfection system used in hospitals
and Covid-19 wards. It has extendable UV arms that treat the seats,
surfaces and cabins of the aircraft without the use of cleaning
chemicals, the airline said.
(Photo: Lance Nelson of banskoblog.com)
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