Bulgaria amends rules for entry to country as of February 1
Bulgaria is amending its rules for arriving in the country from a country classified as a red zone, and has updated its list of red zone countries while also creating a new category – dark red.
Another change is that anyone who has a certificate of a booster dose against Covid-19 may enter Bulgaria from any country in the world, regardless of the colour-code of that country.
The changes take effect from February 1.
An order issued by Health Minister Assena Serbezova says that as of February 1, the definition of a red zone country is one that has a 14-day morbidity rate of between 500 and 5000 per 100 000 population.
A person arriving from a red zone country may be admitted to Bulgaria on presenting a valid EU Digital Covid Certificate – or equivalent or similar document – of vaccination, having undergone Covid-19, or of a PCR or antigen test.
Bulgarian citizens and people with permanent or long-term residence in the country, and their families, who do not present any of these documents will be placed in 10-day quarantine.
This quarantine may be lifted if the person presents a negative result of a PCR or antigen test done no earlier than 72 hours after arriving in Bulgaria. Previously, only the result of a PCR test was accepted.
Requirements for those arriving from a country classified as a green or orange zone remain unchanged.
The new category of country, dark red zone, is defined as one where the 14-day Covid-19 morbidity rate is more than 5000 per 100 000 population.
A person arriving from a country classified as a dark red zone may be admitted to Bulgaria on presentation of a Digital Covid Certificate or similar document for vaccination or having undergone Covid-19 and a negative result of a PCR test done up to 72 hours before entering the country.
Those who have an EU Digital Covid Certificate or similar document for having received a booster dose will not be required to present a negative PCR test result.
Citizens, permanent and long-term residents of Bulgaria, and their families, who do not present any of these documents will be placed into 10-day quarantine.
Citizens, permanent and long-term residents of Bulgaria, and their families, who present only one of the documents will be placed into 10-day quarantine, which may be lifted if the person presents a negative result of a PCR test done no earlier than 72 hours after arriving in Bulgaria.
Children arriving 12 to 18 arriving from a dark red zone country may be admitted to Bulgaria on presentation of a valid EU Digital Covid Certificate, or equivalent or similar, for a negative result of a PCR test done up to 72 hours before arrival in Bulgaria. If they do not present such a document, they will be placed into 10-day quarantine, which may be lifted on presentation of a negative PCR test result done no earlier than 72 hours after arriving in Bulgaria.
The Health Ministry issued a reminder that as of February 1, in accordance with EU regulations, a digital certificate for a completed course of vaccination is valid up to the date of the end of the vaccination cycle.
As listed in Serbezova’s order:
Dark red zone countries and territories:
Afghanistan, Bonaire, Gibraltar, Greenland, Israel, Iceland, Andorra, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, North Korea, Maldives, Tanzania, Palau, Portugal, San Marino, Seychelles, Saba, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Sint Eustatius, Slovenia, Faroe Islands, France.
Red zone countries and territories:
Australia, Austria, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, The Bahamas, Belize,
Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, British Virgin Islands, Luxembourg, Grenada, Georgia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Kuwait, Uruguay, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Canada, Kyrgyzstan, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Guyana, Bahrain, Curacao, Lebanon, Bolivia, Mongolia, Montserrat, New Caledonia, the United Kingdom, Isle of Man, Aruba, Albania, Argentina, Botswana, Greece, Ecuador, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Kosovo, Costa Rica, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, North Macedonia, Singapore, Suriname, Serbia, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Finland, Chile, Romania, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Slovakia, United States, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Hungary, Germany, Brazil, St Kitts and Nevis, Croatia, Montenegro, Czech Republic, Jamaica.
No country is currently classified as a green zone, according to Serbezova’s order. If a country is neither a green, red or dark red zone, it is classified as an orange zone.
(Photo: Sofia Airport)
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