Bulgarian Health Minister’s order on changes to measures from April 1: Details
Bulgarian Health Minister Kostadin Angelov issued an order on March 30 with changes to anti-epidemic measures that will take effect from April 1 onwards. These are the details.
Visits to open-air areas of restaurants, such as terraces and gardens, will be allowed, with restaurants’ working hours limited to 6am to 11pm.
Deliveries of food to homes and offices are allowed, as is room service at places of accommodation.
Discos, piano bars, variety bars and nightclubs must remain closed until the end of April. Gambling halls and casinos must remain closed.
Kindergartens and nurseries may resume in-person attendance on April 5.
When the spring school holiday ends on April 12, in-person classes for pupils from the first to 12th grades will resume, in accordance with a schedule to be announced within the next week.
From April 12, group activities at special educational centres may resume.
At tertiary educational institutions, distance learning remains in effect until April 11, with exceptions for practical training and examinations in fields including medicine, dentistry, public health care and pharmacy.
From April 1, cinemas, theatres, museums, galleries, libraries and circuses may re-open, but may use no more than 30 per cent of the capacity of the premises. The same applies to dance and music classes. Open-air events such as fairs and festivals remain prohibited.
From April 1, visits to fitness centres, gyms and clubs and swimming pools and complexes are allowed, using no more than 30 per cent of their capacity and observing a physical distance of at least 1.5 m.
From April 1, visits to spa and wellness centres are allowed, provided that they use no more than 30 per cent of their capacity.
From April 1 to April 12, stores with a net retail area of more than 300 sq m, offering non-food products, are allowed to work with customers only in the open areas adjacent to the retail outlet.
At shopping malls, the only stores allowed to be open are food stores, medical facilities, pharmacies, drugstores, opticians, pet shops, banks, insurance offices, courier services, payment services, telecommunications companies’ shops, communication service providers, dry cleaners, motor vehicle services and car washes.
In-person congresses, seminars, competitions, and team buildings are prohibited, with exceptions for those competitions conducted in terms of the Labour Code, Civil Servants Act and the law on the development of academic staff.
Private occasions such as weddings, baptisms and funerals may be attended by no more than 15 people.
Collective sports events, whether training or competitive, involving people younger than 18, remain prohibited. An exception is allowed for sports people registered with sports federations.
Group tourist excursions with organised transport inside Bulgaria and with a destination outside the country remain prohibited.
Markets must be organised so that there is a distance of at least 1.5m between visitors. Employers and staff must wear protective masks.
At food shops, only people older than 65 may be admitted between 8.30am and 10.30am.
Visits by outsiders to hospitals are prohibited, unless to a patient who is terminal.
Visits to social services specialised institutions and social homes for children and adults may be allowed as an exception and at the discretion of the head of the institution, in compliance with anti-epidemic measures and with the submission by the visitor that he or she has not been in contact with a person infected with Covid-19, has no signs of acute respiratory illness and will comply with the anti-epidemic measures.
Angelov’s order came on the eve of the expiry of the heightened measures that took effect on March 22, and ahead of Bulgaria’s parliamentary elections on April 4.
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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