The government will decide what stops and what does not because of the coronavirus – Bulgaria

© Nadezhda Chipeva, Capital

After meeting with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and part of the coronavirus headquarters, the Health Minister announced six proposals for restrictions in various sectors since Friday at an unknown time. The final decision will be made after a government meeting. The seventh point, mentioned by the Minister of Health, is that the epidemic emergency situation, as announced in Bulgaria until the end of November, will last until the end of March next year.

By itself, the prolongation of an epidemic emergency does not change the measures against the spread of the coronavirus, but it does expand the possibility of introducing and lifting restrictions quickly (the so-called anti-epidemic measures – author’s note.) only by order of the Minister of Health.

The Minister’s proposals

Summing up that “we do not impose a lockdown”, Professor Kostadin Angelov expressed confidence that the restrictions due to the coronavirus will be imposed by humans. The minister’s ideas, which are expected to improve the situation with the coronavirus in up to 21 days, are:

If all the proposals of Professor Kostadin Angelov are accepted by the government (whose next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday – author’s note), it will mean that – unlike spring – from Friday you will have to close hairdressers, hardware stores and more. similar non-food stores.

Sports restrictions are not discussed in detail, but p. Eg gymnasiums and swimming pools are theoretically not included in the definition of “collective sporting events”. The work of hotels and guest houses is also not thematic by Prof. Kostadin Angelov. “We have not discussed details about the work of each sector. I have told them what our basic proposals are,” said the minister.

Then, in the words of Professor Kostadin Angelov, “we never reached a consensus” in discussions with the business organization and the elderly, the so-called green commercial corridor is expected to change again, when they can enter stores and pharmacies. only people over 65 years old. According to the Minister of Health, the shopping schedule for them will only be in the morning, but that has not yet been decided exactly. The current rules are:

Minutes before the extraordinary briefing of the Minister of Health and part of the headquarters for the coronavirus, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov announced on his Facebook account that “we must not exaggerate and worry people with any measure.”

According to Borissov’s summary, about 50% of the people are against tightening the measures because they slightly eliminated the virus.

In response to a question from Dnevnik, the health minister said he expected the ministers to support his proposals, but that they should discuss “all the details” with them.

New episode of the measurement criterion

Why are the authorities introducing or lifting restrictions on the coronavirus? It is a question that has a dynamic answer throughout the months. Initially, the thesis was that it was essential that it be proposed by the headquarters, then it was presented that 23 indicators were monitored simultaneously and therefore one could not be derived.

For the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic, the Health Minister said the decision to offer strict restrictions was part of his plan. It is not public, and so far in his speeches Prof. Kostadin Angelov presented only the part that affects the change in the organization of the health system, but not the hardening of measures.

According to the data presented by the Chief of State Health Inspectors, Prof. Angel Kunchev, this value is exceeded in three districts and there the number of new coronavirus infections exceeds 1,000 people per 100,000 inhabitants. These are:

Professor Kostadin Angelov also said that the set of measures is measured as a “severity index” and should “preferably be greater than 70%” to influence the curve of new registered patients.

No checkpoints, but unknown to travel from abroad

Once again, the Minister of Health announced that the movement of people will not be restricted by installing checkpoints, although the measures will be tightened. According to him, this measure would have no effect, especially when the coronavirus spreads everywhere and not in individual outbreaks.

At the beginning of the coronavirus epidemic in Bulgaria, there were a number of restrictions for those arriving from abroad, from entry bans for foreigners to mandatory quarantine for all, and currently an alternative to isolation is negative PCR tests up to three days before enter the country.

According to the current order, there are no restrictions for the entry of Bulgarians from anywhere in Bulgaria, there are few countries from which foreigners cannot arrive. Few travelers require a negative PCR test or mandatory quarantine.

In response to a question from Dnevnik, Prof. Kostadin Angelov said that this aspect of the restrictions will be discussed and he hopes to “share experiences with other European countries.” Even at the beginning of the epidemic, when the restrictions were strict, there was no prohibition on the entry of Bulgarians into Bulgaria and therefore most likely now there is not.

Hope for christmas

The Health Minister refused to set a deadline for stricter restrictions, but said the indicators are monitored daily. According to him, the measures can give results at least eight days, it is possible that the days are fourteen, but science has shown that you have to wait 21 days, which will almost coincide with the Christmas holidays.