Covid-19: Bulgaria extends epidemic declaration to March 31 2022
At its sitting on November 24, Bulgaria’s caretaker government extended the country’s Covid-19 epidemic declaration by four months to the end of March 2022.
Bulgaria declared a State of Emergency on March 13 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. This continued until May 13 2020, when it was succeeded by an epidemic declaration, which has been extended repeatedly, although usually by one month or two.
On two occasions, the government extended the epidemic declaration by three months – in January (until the end of April) when the country was at the end of its second Covid-19 wave and about to enter the third, and in August, when Bulgaria was entering the fourth wave, still underway.
Earlier this month, caretaker Health Minister Stoicho Katsarov said that the ministry would propose extending the epidemic declaration by four to six months.
In its statement on November 24, the Cabinet’s media office said that the extension was meant to limit the spread of Covid-19, which required continued use of the existing travel restrictions.
The government statement attributed the current pandemic wave to the low vaccine uptake rate in Bulgaria, which it put at 25.5 per cent, well below the EU target of 70 per cent.
“This contributes to the high morbidity levels among those not vaccinated, who account for more than 85 per cent of all people infected with SARS-CoV-2,” the statement said.
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