Major municipalities in Bulgaria set aside kindergartens for children of Covid-19 medics
With kindergartens in Bulgaria set to be closed for three weeks as part of stricter measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19, some major municipalities are setting aside kindergartens that during that time will solely accommodate children of medical personnel working in Covid-19 wards.
In Sofia, from November 30 two kindergartens will receive children of doctors, nurses and orderlies working in Covid-19 wards.
The two kindergartens are near large hospitals – Alexandrovska, the Military Medical Academy and Pirogov emergency hospital.
Sofia mayor Yordanka Fandukova said that the two kindergartens are expected to accommodate about 80 children.
Plovdiv municipality is also seeking Health Ministry permission to make available kindergartens for the children of health workers.
The city’s education department has opened a hotline for families to express interest, with the requirement that parents must provide proof that at least one of them works in a hospital in the city. Hospitals also are being asked to provide information.
The number of groups will depend on those wishing to benefit.
“The goal is to relieve the medical workers in all facilities and help them do their job. There are already volunteers among the staff of the kindergartens, in solidarity with the care that doctors, nurses and orderlies provide for the ill at this difficult time,” Plovdiv’s deputy mayor in charge of education Stefan Stoyanov said, according to a statement by the municipality.
In Bulgaria’s Black Sea municipality of Bourgas, a kindergarten has been set aside not only to take care of the children of Bourgas doctors and other medical staff, but also children in the first to third grades to enable them to undergo distance learning.
Bourgas mayor Dimitar Nikolov said that the service would “provide an opportunity for our medics to continue to perform their round-the-clock duties in the Bourgas hospitals. This is the least we can do for them at the moment”.
Medical professionals who want to use the service must complete an application form, to be found on the municipal website, and e-mail it to the mayor’s office, a statement by Bourgas municipality said.
The kindergarten to be used is close to Bourgas general hospital and other medical institutions. It can accommodate 300 children.
Bulgarian National Radio reported that the municipality of Dobrich was looking at options to provide a kindergarten for children of medical personnel on duty. Once a decision is made, application forms will be available online, the municipality said.
Bulgaria’s stricter measures against the spread of Covid-19 take effect on November 27 at 11.30pm, according to an order issued by Health Minister Kostadin Angelov.
(Photo: Bourgas municipality)
The Sofia Globe’s coverage of the Covid-19 situation is supported by the Embassies of Switzerland and Finland.
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