Bulgaria’s caretaker Health Minister orders probe into former government’s handling of Covid crisis
Bulgaria’s caretaker Health Minister Stoicho Katsarov has ordered an investigation by the National Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases (NCIPD) into the handling of the Covid-19 crisis by the former government and the now-disbanded national operational headquarters, the Health Ministry said on May 28.
Katsarov has given the NCIPD 30 days to analysis activities related to public health services between March 1 2020 and May 31 2021 in the context of the epidemic caused by Covid-19, the Health Ministry said.
The NCIPD should identify the direct and indirect causes of the high number of deaths, as well as assess the impact of the spread of Covd-19 on reported mortality.
The centre must analyse the total number of deaths and their distribution by age groups and by weeks for the specified period, and the total number of deaths due to Covid-19 and their distribution by age groups and by weeks.
It must indicate the relevant mortality rates per 100 000 population by age group, by week and by district.
The centre is also assigned to analyse the activities of the centres for emergency medical care, primary outpatient care, specialised outpatient care, laboratories and hospital medical care.
Katsarov has told the NCIPD to present chronologically and analyse the actions of the government and the national operational HQ during the epidemic in terms of protecting the health of the public, as well as to present an analysis of the specific actions related to Covid-19 by the then-ministers of health Kiril Ananiev and Kostadin Angelov, and the regional health inspectorates, the NCIPD itself, the National Health Insurance Fund and other bodies and organisations involved in the fight against the epidemic.
The NCIPD will monitor and evaluate the effect of the implementation of the individual anti-epidemic measures, the provision of vaccines and the organization of the vaccination process, the Health Ministry said.
(Photo of Katsarov: government.bg)
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