Nightclub in Bulgaria’s Plovdiv fined for defying 10pm closing rule
Checks on compliance in Plovdiv with anti-epidemic rules have been stepped up in recent days, with a nightclub fined after deliberately disobeying the order to close by 10pm, and police removing people from public buses for not wearing masks.
According to a report by Bulgarian National Television, checks on the night of January 31 began at a restaurant in Plovdiv’s Zapaden area.
There were no customers in the restaurant after the mandatory closing time, and the owner complained that the stepped-up measures were ruining the industry, the report said.
The owner said that he had told customers to leave at 10pm. He complained that he had 15 employees and called into question whether he would be able to pay them.
The nightclub that was fined was working after midnight. The fine will be issued by the regional health inspectorate, and will be between 500 and 2000 leva (about 250 to 1000 euro).
The report said that the nightclub had deliberately defied the 10pm closing rule, arguing that all staff were vaccinated.
Asked if the nightclub would continue to defy the order, manager Radoslav Chilingirov told BNT: “We will continue to work, we will continue to work, fines are better than death”.
The report said that clients in the nightclub were also checked by the health inspectors, but were not fined.
Last week, Bulgaria’s restaurant and hotel bodies said that they would not obey the new anti-epidemic measures, claiming that they were being unfairly singled out, even though they had been complying with previous measures, including mask-wearing, vaccination of staff and checking clients for green certificates.
In other Covid-19 news in Bulgaria on February 1:
The municipal operational headquarters in Lovech will decide on February 4 whether to introduce additional anti-epidemic measures, both for school pupils and other members of the public.
The move follows concern that on a weekly basis, the Covid-19 morbidity in the district has risen by 200 points. On a 14-day basis, morbidity in Lovech municipality is 2040 per 100 000 population.
Checks on compliance with anti-epidemic measures are also being stepped up in the area.
Last Saturday, a wedding in the village of Petrevene was shut down for violating anti-epidemic measures, Bulgarian National Radio said.
Labour and Social Policy Minister Georgi Gyokov said on February 1 that more than 690 000 pensioners were today receiving an one-off supplement of 75 leva to their pensions for voluntarily completing their cycle of vaccination against Covid-19.
According to Gyokov, the sum is transferred on a different day from the one on which pensions are paid.
“As long as they complete their vaccination cycle, by the end of June, all other pensioners, regardless of their age and pension, can benefit from this one-time supplement,” he said.
(Photo: Israel Jimenez)
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