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© Velko Angelov
If the newly recorded cases of coronavirus in Bulgaria continue to increase weekly, restaurant visits may be banned in the country. This was stated by Assistant Professor Angel Kunchev, chief state health inspector and member of the national operational headquarters for coronavirus in an interview with Dnevnik. (You can see the video at the end of the article).
The interview coincided with the day when the coronavirus information system in Bulgaria reported a new all-time record of 436 new infections checked per day.
There is no single criterion to tighten the measures
Angel Kunchev reiterated the thesis that in Bulgaria there can be no single criterion on which the tightening of measures depends, both at the national level and in individual regions. The reason is that “23 indicators are monitored simultaneously”, part of which is the condition of the infected, whether the cases are concentrated in separate foci or are dispersed.
However, the Chief State Health Inspector noted that the European Center for Disease Control, to which Bulgaria also submits data, divides the European Union countries into four groups based on the number of COVID cases -19 per 100 thousand inhabitants during a period from 14 days:
– up to 20 cases (indicated on the cards in yellow),
– from 20 to 60 cases (in light orange),
– from 60 to 120 cases (in dark orange)
– more than 120 cases (red)
© ECDC
Freeze frame from the website of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control
According to him, according to this color classification, most of Bulgaria is light orange, some areas are dark orange. “Being in the orange zone is already an indication that some additional measures must be taken. One is to limit the establishments. The other is to control the implementation of the above measures. Everyone knows very well what to do if they do not comply, it is personal. decision and shows that they do not agree with the measures, “said Associate Professor Kunchev, explaining that some countries have already limited visits to nightclubs to 10pm (Where does the largest number of new COVID-19 infections come from in Bulgaria?
What possibilities are there to prohibit visits to restaurants?
The development of the coronavirus epidemic to date has shown that decisions to impose and lift restrictions sometimes change within days or even hours. Examples of this were the position changes on restrictions on visiting nightclubs and the admission of spectators to stadiums.
In this context, Adjunct Professor Angel Kunchev expressed the view that political decisions hinder the control of the epidemic: “If it depended on us only for medical reasons, some things might be different, but this is no reason to say that it should not be so. “Of course, people involved in politics have a duty to take into account everything else: the social system, the budget, costs and the economy.” The state chief health inspector concluded that it was “important to reduce risk without interfering with people’s lives. “
The system will handle “as much as it can”
Regarding the control over the observance of measures against the epidemic, Associate Professor Kunchev said that the system will manage “as far as possible”. As “Dnevnik” wrote, a total of 30 people are involved in the control in the almost two million of the city of Sofia:
– with survey: 10 people
– with delivery of recipes: 10 people
– with test: 10 people
Data cited by the Mediapool website shows that in the first six months of the development of the COVID epidemic in Bulgaria, an average of one or two people per day were fined for not wearing a mask on public transport in Sofia, and a total of more than 1,000 people were “warned” that they were in violation. According to the data provided to the publication by the Sofia Regional Sanitary Inspection, some 4,000 inspections have been carried out of establishments, shops, sports and children’s venues, administrative and office buildings. More than 100 minutes have been drawn up for non-compliance with anti-epidemic measures, most of them again due to lack of protective masks. Associate Professor Kunchev told Dnevnik that there was an “action on public transport” in Sofia last week, in which some 400 fines of BGN 300 each were imposed in two days.
Measurements cannot be observed if they are not performed. The idea that we will put a policeman on every bus and in every restaurant we will see who wears a mask is unacceptable and does not work.
member of the Coronavirus National Operational Headquarters
Associate Professor Kunchev told Dnevnik that (apart from the increase in salaries) the health oversight bodies have been given the opportunity to enter into civil contracts with qualified people, but “not many are willing.” It is possible to help the volunteers to help the teams, who will receive 1,000 BGN for working on the so-called front line, but “there was something of interest at the beginning, at the moment it is almost non-existent”, summarized Angel Kunchev.
