Long queues, lost time and much tension on the roads to Sofia and the regional cities after the holidays - this has been the result of tight traffic restriction measures.

Starting today, April 21, citizens who go or return from work with a car will be able to enter and leave Sofia at any time, presenting a declaration, reads the order of the Minister of Health, which lifted the previous ban on entry and leaving Sofia at certain periods of time during the day. According to the changes, every traveler to and from the capital because of their job duties must show the standard up-to-date declaration stating their workplace as well as a telephone number for contacting an employer.

The urgent change of the restrictive measures came as Monday right after Easter turned out to be a tough test for law enforcement officers and citizens, who went to the district towns where they reside during the weekend. Huge queues of cars formed at checkpoints, and many people even had to spend the night on highways and roads as they failed to fit in the hours of the so-called green corridors. Many of the vehicles were not allowed to enter the capital because of lack of declarations of employer. The reason for the travel woes was the tightening of entry and exit regime during the Easter holidays after an order issued by the Minister of Health on 17 April.

The current loosening of restrictive measures related to the prevention of Covid-19 has five directions of action.

At an extraordinary briefing with the participation of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, the Ministers of Finance Vladislav Goranov and Interior Minister Mladen Marinov loosening some of the more stringent measures imposed in recent days has been discussed. These include the opening of markets (as of yesterday) and the authorization of child immunizations, women's consultations and planned operations, which can start on April 21 on a set schedule. After tracking the situation over the next few days, the order for visits to parks and mountains will be discussed too, the Prime Minister said.

PM Boyko Borissov has thanked the Ministry of Interior's employees for their work so far and stated that the state had allocated about 5 million euro for bonuses to police officers as a reward for their work.

English: Alexander Markov