Covid-19 in Bulgaria: Day 431

published on 5/12/21 7:35 PM

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Nearly 1 million Bulgarians receive first dose of Covid-19 vaccine

877 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Bulgaria in the past 24 hours out of 13,190 tests performed, indicate data of the Single Coronavirus Information Portal. 6.6% of the tests have returned positive result. The highest number of new infections was reported in Sofia-182, followed by Varna-77, Plovdiv-72 and Burgas-66.

There are 41,434 active cases of Covid-19 at present. 5,410 patients are being treated in hospital, 535 of them in intensive care units.

59 people have died and 2,222 have recovered in the past 24 hours.

35,748 vaccines have been administered in Bulgaria in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of inoculations against Covid-19 to 999,287. 338,028 people have already received their second vaccine dose.

The caretaker cabinet must decide on the emergency measures

Galab Donev is a well-known expert in our circles and I believe that he will cope with the position of Minister of Labor and Social Policy. I hope that he will not succumb to the pressure of the street and to revanchist sentiments, Bulgaria’s former Minister of Labor and Social Policy Denitsa Sacheva said for BNT. "The current measures adopted in support of businesses and people are valid until May 31. We have provided enough funding for June as well, but it is not clear whether and in what form these measures will continue. The caretaker cabinet must also decide whether pensioners will continue to receive a supplement of EUR 25 to their pensions, Denitsa Sacheva pointed out.

The caretaker cabinet will have to extend the emergency epidemic situation, in order to continue with the measures in support of businesses and pensioners, Daniela Daritkova from GERB party said for Horizont channel of the Bulgarian National Radio.

Bulgaria's healthcare system faces alarming shortage of nurses

The pandemic has highlighted long-standing problems in Bulgaria's healthcare system, including a shortage of nurses. This was stated before the Bulgarian National Radio by the President of the Regional Board of the Bulgarian Association of Healthcare Professionals in Varna, Raina Boyadzhieva, on today's International Nurses Day.

The number of nurses in Bulgarian medical institutions is at the sanitary minimum, as most of them are of retirement or pre-retirement age, Boyadzhieva said. Many of the nurses in Bulgaria work in 2-3 places at the same time, due to their low pay. Some of them still work for a wage of 750 leva /383 euros/ per month.

Boyadzhieva called on the government to take rescue measures for the healthcare sector in order not to deepen the outflow of personnel.

Tourism sector in Bulgaria demands that PCR tests be paid by the state

Problems in the tourism sector are already in the field of diplomacy, so the tourism sector expects the caretaker Minister of Tourism Stella Baltova to work in line with the caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs. This was said to BNR by Polina Karastoyanova, executive director of the National Board of Tourism.

Karastoyanova pointed out that a new concept of presentation of Bulgarian tourism is needed, to clearly state that the Bulgarian tourist product is not marked by its cheap price but by its high quality. According to her, the businesses in the tourism sector have exhausted their financial resources, as the Covid measures themselves have cost them large investment. She said that the sector insists that the state should bear the costs of tests for tourists arriving in Bulgaria - antigen or PCR, it should also establish quarantine hotels and bear the costs of possible treatment.

Compiled by Joan Kolev

You can find all stories and important publications related to Covid-19 in Bulgaria at our special coverage section in English.

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