Coronavirus fatality rate in Bulgaria has increased by 53% in comparison to the past week, Gen. Ventsislav Mutafchiyski, Head of the National Operational Headquarters reported at a regular briefing on the coronavirus situation. There has been an exponential growth in the number of cases for two weeks, and currently 395 out of every 100,000 people have Covid-19, which is a rise of 38%.

The number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals has increased by 12% in the past seven days and now there are hospitals with exhausted capacity. For example, in the Military Medical Academy in Sofia only five vacant beds were available this morning, the head of the headquarters said. He warned that "things are not going in the right direction" and measures must be taken because hospitals were running out of beds and many people might be left without treatment. 58% of the beds for patients without complications are currently occupied, as well as 65% of those in intensive care wards.

"When society was ready to believe in the anti-epidemic measures and to observe them, they would be taken," Minister of Health Prof. Kostadin Angelov said in response to a question why no stricter actions were taken at national level given the rapid rise in the number of infected and dead. According to the minister, there was no way to apply measures where people did not believe in them. "We are not late with their introduction and if necessary, they will be taken," the minister added, pointing out that our society was not ready for a full lock-down.

When it comes to the batch of AstraZeneca vaccine, which is also used in this country and was suspended in Austria after two cases of severe complications after immunization, the European Medicines Agency does not recommend stopping it. No causal link has been found between the vaccination and the condition of the two people, Bogdan Kirilov, head of the Bulgarian Drug Agency reported. In our country, almost all 31,200 doses of the batch have already been used and no concerns over the safety of the vaccinated people exist, he said.

Not all members of sectional election commissions have been vaccinated. According to the plan, this should have happened by March 5th, the Minister of Health said. He added that two doses of the vaccine are reserved for each of them. At the briefing it also became clear that tomorrow (March 12) Bulgaria will receive 31,200 doses of the Astra Zenaca vaccine and on Monday - 21,060 of the Pfizer/Biontech vaccine. Currently, this country ranks 16th in the European Union when it comes to the number of coronavirus patients and 5th in the Balkans.

English: Alexander Markov