New anti-epidemic measures proposed

The Ministry of Health announced on October 15 that Bulgaria's Chief State Health Inspector has prepared a report for the caretaker Minister of Health, in which he proposes additional anti-epidemic measures to be introduced due to the rise in Covid-19 cases and the increased number of occupied hospital beds.

Two alternative suggestions for anti-Covid measured were presented in the report:

1. Access to a series of public events and places to be granted only after a provision of a certificate for vaccination, recovery, or a taken rapid antigen test or a PCR test, as is the practice in some European countries. This requirement is suggested for access to educational, training, public, social, cultural, entertainment, and sports events and places.

2. Alternatively, if the introduction of a green certificate is not accepted, additional restrictions for the capacity and cancellation of certain activities, described in detail in the report, should be established.

In aditon to the general measures, specific measures for the educational field are also proposed in the report:

Obligatory wearing of a protective face mask for all educational and non-educational personnel, as well as for children from fifth grade and above, during their stay in the educational institutions. Limitation of mixing students from different classes by suspending all group extracurricular activities. All sports events are to be held only outdoors.

After reaching a 14-day morbidity rate of 500 cases per 100,000 population, on a municipal level, scheduled remote learning in a digital environment and a rule for no more than 50% of the students, allowed to attend classes in person, should be introduced. In-person classes should be suspended after reaching a 14-day mobrbbidity rate of 750 per 100,000 population, on a municipal basis.

Scheduled remote learning should be established in schools where the absence of students becasue of ilness reaches 20% and/or more than 30% of classes are quarantined, with in-person education allowed for no more than 60% of all classes and for the ones with the least number of absent students.

The caretaker Minister of Health has ordered that the report be sent to all concerned parties, institutions and organisations with a request for a stance in regards to the proposed measures.

The caretaker health minister has called extraordinary meeting of the Expert Council for Epidemiology on Monday, October 18, to discuss the suggestions that have been made.

The caretaker Minister of Health has also ordered the purchase of 1 million additional antigen tests for the needs of the medical controls.