The world is talking of a “Bulgarian model” of tackling the pandemic: Foreign Minister

“The crisis has shown that no country can tackle the pandemic by itself. The world is talking of a “Bulgarian model”, of the balance we are finding of preserving lives and not shutting down the economy,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva said for BNT. “The EU recovery plan opens up unprecedented opportunities for the member countries to modernize their economies. For us, this will lead to an annual growth of the economy of 3.5%,” Minister Zaharieva said.

Tour operators call for state aid, but tourist sector is divided

Representatives of the tourism industry from the association "Future for Tourism" have organized a protest in front of the Council of Ministers in central Sofia. They are calling for state aid because of the pandemic. They want a reduction of VAT for tourism to 5% in the next 2 years. They also want an extension of the period for refund of prepaid amounts for cancelled trips abroad, which expires on March 13. It is demanded that a state guarantee fund of 35 million euros be created to cover the money to their clients. The Association of Bulgarian Tour Operators and Travel Agents told BNR's Horizon program that they did not support the protest. They believe that this will create inequality in the sector in relation to state aid.

Dramatic surge in daily Covid-19 cases

2,588 is the number of newly-registered Covid-19 infections in Bulgaria over the past 24 hours, or 16% of the 16,179 tests performed,according to data of the Single Coronavirus Information Portal.This is the highest number of daily coronavirus cases since the start of the year. The highest number of new cases is in Sofia– 645, followed by Burgas district - 274 and Plovdiv district - 194. 11,094 people have been vaccinated in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of vaccinations to 223,539. 38,775 have received their second shot. 

Highest number of Covid-19 hospitalizations reported in Sofia, Plovdiv and Burgas

On February 28, a total of 1,153 patients with Covid-19 infection were in hospitals in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia. 447 patients were in hospitals in Plovdiv and 428 in Burgas, indicate data of the National Health Insurance Fund published today, reported BTA. The lowest number of Covid-19 hospitalizations was reported in Vidin and Targovishte. One patient with Covid-19 was in hospital in Vidin and 13 patients with coronavirus infection were in hospital in Targovishte. 

Compiled by: Darina Grigorova

English version: Radio Bulgaria’s English department