Around March 20, 2022, it will be possible to lift all restrictions in Bulgaria arising from the green certificate, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov told a press conference at the Council of Ministers on February 21.
In his words, more and more districts are moving out of the Covid-19 red zone and entering the yellow one. The authorities expect that soon the whole country will be in the green zone in terms of the spread of the virus nd this will allow the restrictions related to the green certificate in the country to be lifted.
"We managed to get through this wave without mass closures of schools and businesses. This was made possible thanks to the methodology of monitoring the occupancy of intensive care beds and using a model that calculated the real risks to the health system," the Prime Minister added.
Lifting the requirement for the green certificate does not mean that authorities will stop promoting vaccination, PM Petkov added.
The ease of the restrictions will take place in three steps and will start this week, said the chief state health inspector, Angel Kunchev.
- As of 24 February, owners of public-use facilities and venues can admit persons without a green certificate at their discretion. The green certificate requirement remains for staff. As of the same date, up to 12 children will be allowed in after-school activity centres.
- As of 5 March, visits to activities and services at public use premises will take place without the requirement of a green certificate regardless of the personal preference of the premises owner. The green certificate requirement for staff remains in effect. Children’s attendance at after-school activity centres is subject to physical distance, frequent airing and disinfection requirements. Mixing of different classes in schools will be allowed. Border health checks will be carried out in accordance with the colour-coded zones and the group of countries on the dark red list is dropped, i.e. anyone with a green certificate can enter the country from any country in the world.
- As of 20 March, all activities and services can be visited without a green certificate, and the requirement for staff to have a green certificate will be lifted. The document will only be used for travel abroad.
Each of the stages will be described in an order of the Ministry of Health.
The final lifting of the Covid-19 restrictions depends on the specific development of the epidemic situation. It is unlikely that the plan for lifting the green certificate will not work, Kunchev added.
It is not yet clear when the requirement for mandatory wearing of masks in indoor public places will be lifted, as well as the mass testing in schools.
The efforts are bearing fruit in an imperfect healthcare system, in a system that has had unresolved problems for decades, in a system with a shortage of staff, not just of doctors but of nurses, Health Minister, Asena Serbezova, said.
She thanked the Bulgarian frontline doctors, nurses, pharmacists and all those who are employed in the health care system and despite the imperfections managed to mobilise the available resources and efforts.
Serbezova said that the easying of the anti-epidemic measures does not mean that people should not get vaccinated. Statistics show that 90% of those who lose the battle with Covid or have complications are not vaccinated.
images by Dessislava Kulelieva
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