Bulgaria’s Health Minister issues rule on quarantine for arrivals
Bulgarian nationals and permanent residents that are subject to self-isolation after entering the country without a negative PCR test can have their quarantine lifted if they take a PCR test 24 hours after entering Bulgaria and it is negative, Bulgaria’s Health Ministry said late on February 1.
The provision is included in an order issued by Health Minister Kostadin Angelov, which amends the previous order on travel restrictions, issued on January 26.
An earlier version of the restrictions order, issued in November 2020, also allowed for quarantine to be lifted after a negative PCR test result, but the provision was dropped in last week’s order. The ministry did not give a reason for its U-turn on the issue.
In other news related to Covid-19 in Bulgaria:
Sofia mayor Yordanka Fandukova said that more than 5000, about 20 per cent of the total, of teaching and non-teaching staff at the capital city’s schools and kindergartens had declared that they wanted to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Fandukova said that she hoped that this percentage would increase as vaccination progresses.
Vaccination of teachers in Sofia started on February 1 and 162 received injections on the first day.
A total of 15 hospitals in Sofia – state, municipal and private – have vaccination offices, and if necessary, more will be opened at diagnostic-consulting centres, she said.
Dancho Penchev, head of the Sofia regional health inspectorate, said that so far Sofia had received close to 25 000 doses of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine and 4800 of the Moderna vaccine.
Penchev urged teachers to stick to the vaccination schedule so that there would be no waste of supplies.
The Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association (BHRA) said in a statement that those employed in the tourism business expect the promised financial compensation for the period from December to the end of January, which should be received by all employees and businesses whose work is banned or restricted by order of the Minister of Health Kostadin Angelov.
BHRA said that Angelov had promised it that this would happen by the end of January or in the first days of February.
In addition, the representatives of BHRA, who met with Angelov, had been assured that as soon as possible he would assist in holding meetings with the line ministers to whom the industry’s main requests for state aid had been addressed – Labour and Social Policy Minister Denitsa Sacheva, Finance Minister Kiril Ananiev and Economy Minister Luchezar Borissov.
“We expect these meetings to be convened as soon as possible, as well as the immediate approval of the new business and staff support schemes for February and the nightclubs for March, so that it is clear which companies and individuals will be able to apply,” BHRA said.
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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