There is a steady trend of rising number of recovered patients – almost a thousand per day, the Minister of Health Prof. Kostadin Angelov said at a briefing. According to him, the measures taken against the spread of the infection show that this country was successfully coping with Covid-19. The average incidence is currently 518 per 100,000 people. Speaking about the 14-day morbidity the minister said that "Bulgaria holds one of the average positions in Europe - yesterday it was in 16th place." Bulgaria ranks 14th among 30 countries in Europe. This country ranks 7th in terms of mortality on a 14-day basis.

The occupied beds for Covid-19 patients with lighter symptoms are 40% and 23% are for those accommodated in intensive care wards, the minister added. Most hospitalized with Covid-19 are in the districts of Blagoevgrad, Gabrovo, Pernik, Razgrad, Targovishte and Shumen. 3459 people who are medical staff have tested positive result for coronavirus since the beginning of the epidemic. Currently 1802 of them have Covid-19.

As a result of the reorganization of the hospitals, next week 3000 beds for patients with lighter symptoms will be available in the capital and 400 for those in need of intensive care, said the head of "Pirogov" Prof. Asen Baltov.

All schools in which students with coronavirus reach 15% will be required to switch to distance learning. The regional and municipal headquarters will also be able to decide on electronic lessons, but the Minister of Education will still have the last word, it became clear at the briefing. The duration of the so-called green corridors for shopping in grocery stores and pharmacies would be extended if there were crowds of people, Prof. Kostadin Angelov added.

For a week there is a certain retention in the number of positive PCR tests, the state health inspector Assoc. Prof. Angel Kunchev reported, describing the news as optimistic. Currently, hospitals have all the necessary medicines for the treatment of coronavirus infection. Yesterday, 4,300 vials of Remdesivir were received.

The coordination center at the Sofia Infectious Diseases Hospital will be closed, the director of the Emergency, Dr. Georgi Gelev said.

The reason is that after mobile points were built in front of medical establishments, those in need of treatment can go to the hospitals themselves. The coordination will henceforth be taken over by the Emergency Center, which will connect the respective medical institutions via radio connection.

Bulgaria has shown interest in three of the six coronavirus vaccines currently being developed, the Minister of Health said. Guaranteed access to the vaccine will be available to people over 65, the chronically ill and workers on the front line. The vaccine will be free and will be provided at the request of citizens and will not be included in the immunization calendar.

Participants in the briefing have warned people not to buy drugs on the Internet that are said to treat coronavirus infection. "Azithromycin and any other antibiotic does not cure Covid-19. Using antibiotics for no reason leads to severe consequences," Minister Angelov has warned.

"The best thing is that the country in not in lockdown and so far there are no plans of this happening," said the new head of the Covid-19 Department at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Assoc. Prof. Atanas Mangarov.

English: Alexander Markov