In the last three days Bulgaria has registered record high levels of coronavirus morbidity-220 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people. The number of Covid-19 deaths in Bulgaria increased with 50%, it became clear at a briefing of Bulgaria’s Ministry of Health. In the last week only, the number of Covid-19 cases increased with 102% as compared to the previous week. Highest morbidity was registered in people aged between 20 and 60. More than 2,000 medics have been diagnosed with coronavirus infection since the beginning of the pandemic- 37% of them are doctors and 33%- nurses.

The number of people admitted to hospitals increased by one-third. 7% of all Covid-19 patients who are receiving medical treatment in hospitals are now in intensive care units, Bulgaria’s Deputy Minister of Health Boyko Penkov announced at the briefing. The directors of Pirogov hospital for emergency medicine and Alexandrovska University Hospital forecasted that within ten days the number of people receiving treatment in hospitals will reach 4,000. Currently, a total of 2,300 Covid-19 patients are receiving treatment in hospitals.

“Intensive care units are close to their limit”, Professor Assen Baltov, Director of Pirogov Hospital, alarmed. He called on the private hospitals to allocate 10% of their capacity for Covid-19 patients. Today,Bulgaria’s biggest hospital is opening two more Covid-19 units with 30 beds each for treatment of medics and patients with moderate disease.

Professor Todor Kantardzhiev, Director of the National Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, said that hospitals, emergency medical aid centers and schools should widely use antigen tests for rapid diagnosis of Covid-19. Thus, people will be diagnosed quickly and isolated immediately. The laboratories are working at their full capacity and in the next weeks, results of PCR tests will be two to three days late.

Pupils from first to seventh grade in 15 Bulgarian schools have shifted to online learning, this country’s Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev informed. The highest number of pupils placed under quarantine is in Sofia. I have not changed my opinion that schools must not be closed first and that a local approach should be adopted, Minister Valchev commented, although he admitted that the epidemic situation has been constantly deteriorating.

Currently, Bulgaria ranks 21^st in the EU in terms of Covid-19 morbidity and 10^th in terms of coronavirus mortality.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov