Bulgaria’s Deputy Health Minister denies health care system is in chaos
Bulgaria’s Deputy Health Minister Dr Boiko Penkov has said that the sense that the country’s health care system is in chaos is not justified.
Speaking in an interview with Bulgarian National Radio on November 22, Penkov said that the country was in a “special pandemic situation”.
He said that he been on the front line during influenza epidemics “and the situation was just as terrible as it is now”.
Analyses of the situation had been carried out during the summer and were continuing constantly, Penkov said.
Efforts have been made by the government to negotiate about vaccines. Bulgaria had participated in the negotiations at European level for the supply of medicines to treat Covid-19 patients, he said.
“Many things are being done and continue to be done. We are working at high speed,” he said.
“The problem is not with the hospital structures, but with the staff. Our doctors and nurses are older, they have chronic problems, they are afraid for themselves and their loved ones.”
Legislative amendments were being prepared to make it possible to relocate medical staff, Penkov said.
In other news related to the Covid-19 situation in Bulgaria on November 22:
The district crisis headquarters in Bourgas is proposing to establish four “clean” hospitals in the district, meaning that patients with Covid-19 will not be admitted to them.
Bulgarian National Television said that the move was intended to prevent situations such as that of a young man who had double pneumonia, who died after seven hours of going from one hospital to another, seeking admission.
The proposal is that medical establishments in Pomorie and Sredets become “clean” hospitals where lung diseases and other chronic illnesses could be treated, and that the cardiology and eye hospitals also become “clean” facilities. The proposal has been sent to the Minister of Health.
Fifth to 12th grade pupils in the district of Plovdiv return to school in stages from November 23. This applies to pupils in the city and throughout the district.
Each head of a school in the district must prepare a schedule for in-person and distance learning up to Christmas, the district crisis headquarters in Plovdiv said.
Also returning to class on November 23 are sixth to 12th grade pupils in the city of Pazardzhik.
From November 23, almost all pupils in the district of Rousse return to class.
An exception is fifth to seventh grade pupils in the municipality of Rousse, who will remain on distance learning until the end of November.
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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