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© Georgi Kozhukharov
All of Bulgaria is in the red zone for COVID, which means that in two weeks the newly infected are more than 120 per 100,000 people in all areas. There are no flowers above this indicator and the values for the country exceed 500 new infected with coronavirus per 100,000 inhabitants. “We are doing well,” said Health Minister Professor Kostadin Angelov, stating that the flow of COVID patients was distributed among more hospitals.
However, the country has yet to issue electronic references for research and electronic prescriptions, which was a problem even before the coronavirus crisis. People with COVID symptoms are increasingly being screened for unofficial antigens, and their conscience is being relied upon for isolation. Assoc. Prof. Atanas Mangarov, on whose assessment the government apparently has relied for several days, said that there should be no isolation of the contacts of the infected, and thus entered into a dispute with the director of “Pirogov” Prof. Asen Baltov.
Why the government thinks it is doing well
The Minister of Health ensures that there is good coordination with the institutions by districts and where control is difficult, there are additional restrictions outside the national ones. There were sufficient quantities of COVID drugs in the country and hospital directors had to be well organized to receive them on time.
The Chief Inspector of State Health, Prof. Angel Kunchev, reported that among 30 countries in Europe, Bulgaria ranks fourteenth in the number of new infections in the last two weeks and seventh in mortality for the period, although compared to other countries, restrictions in the country a little. In this context, he commented:
Whether this is good or bad is a matter of your discretion. Of course, it’s even better to be at the bottom, but these indicators are proof enough that the system is working well.
State Chief Health Inspector and Coronavirus Staff Member
According to the director of Pirogov, Professor Asen Baltov, at the hospital he runs, “the pressure has been reduced by a third in the last 24 hours.” By the beginning of next week, medical institutions in Sofia should be ready with their organization and have more than 3,400 beds for COVID patients. The director of the Emergency Service of the capital reported that calls to the center are fewer.
PCR test after positive antigen – not so successful
The positive antigen test, which is already being done in points in front of large state hospitals, as well as in diagnostic and consulting centers in Sofia. (so-called polyclinics – white authors), is not included in the official statistics provided by the authorities. There are at least two consequences: statistics on the spread of the coronavirus are inaccurate, and regional health inspectorates (RHIs) cannot ask infected close contacts to be quarantined, and the Interior Ministry cannot monitor violations. .
However, it is not only in Bulgaria that antigen tests are widely used, as their results are obtained in about 20 minutes and PCR tests in a few hours. At the same time, the antigen testing data is considered very reliable and it remains to be seen whether the results of the PCR to control the COVID epidemic will be equivalent.
When asked by Dnevnik if the PCR test, the results of which are the only official ones so far, is based on people’s awareness and financial capabilities. (PCR test for coronavirus costs around BGN 100 – author’s note) After a positive antigen, Professor Kostadin Angelov replied that in his personal opinion, anyone who tests positive for an antigen for coronavirus should be tested by PCR.
I have not heard of people with symptoms being restricted from performing PCR testing. People who have tested positive for antigen can receive treatment at home with a prescription. They can be isolated by decision of the general practitioner, who will issue a sick leave of 14 days.
Health Minister
If people who are being treated for coronavirus at home want to get tested by PCR, they should consult their doctor. (therefore, they are possible spreaders of the infection – author’s note), you must refer them for examination by a specialist, who in turn must refer them for examination in a laboratory. Only in this way the PCR test does not run on its own.
According to Professor Kostadin Angelov, people with a positive antigen test, if they have to be admitted to the hospital, will be screened by PCR on the spot. In this scenario, the test does not run on your own.
Quarantine unit – not so successful
For the first time since April, Associate Professor Atanas Mangarov, critical of the wearing of masks and imposing restrictions, participated in the briefing on the COVID situation in Bulgaria. He is already in charge of a coronavirus clinic, meets with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and is happy that “the country has not been closed and there is no prospect of that happening at this time.”
He argued that the contact quarantine requirements for proven infected people should be changed because the test data showed that one in three tests was positive for the coronavirus. According to Adjunct Professor Mangarov, “the strict requirements of the health insurance fund should be relaxed” for the discharge of COVID patients from medical institutions.
Anyone in contact with a quarantine positive COVID is largely useless. Time to relax the soul
Head of the COVID Clinic at the Hospital for Infectious Diseases of Sofia
The infectious disease specialist maintains that the positive for coronavirus infects others mainly three or four days before their symptoms appear. According to Mangarov, “one in three people who walk could be positive for COVID.” At the same time, however, authorities have repeatedly said that a person without symptoms is highly unlikely to be positive for coronavirus, even if they are infected, but their symptoms have yet to manifest.
Prof. Asen Baltov objected to Prof. Assoc’s conclusions. Mangarov. The director of “Pirogov” gave an example that initially in the hospital most of his sick colleagues were due to patients who “are negative at first, but become positive in the following four or five days of their treatment.” Thus, between 18 and 25 people on the team could be infected.
It is extremely unpleasant to have to close, for example, neurology for two weeks, because the team has been infected or together with the patients are infected colleagues who treat other patients who arrived at the hospital clean.
Director of the Pirogov Hospital
Therefore, according to Professor Baltov, the quarantine should be maintained for the contacts of a proven infected person. The other participants in the briefing did not comment on the topic.
