News briefing of Bulgaria’s coronavirus task force

There will be a trend of increasing number of coronavirus cases, but at this moment, the health system is ready, the Minister of Health Prof. Kostadin Angelov said on October 1 at a briefing of the National Operational Headquarters (coronavirus task force) on the epidemic situation in the country. By order of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, the regular weekly briefings are being resumed as of today.

"We can't live all our lives with restrictive measures and lockdowns, so we have to get used to living with the thought and reason about the presence of coronavirus infection and to build our habits - wearing masks indoors, to observe reasonable hygiene and disinfection, the rules for social and physical distance,” added Minister Angelov.

In Bulgaria, more than 23 indicators are monitored and on this basis informed decisions are made, assured Prof. Angelov.

The newly confirmed cases of coronavirus in Bulgaria over the past 24 hours are 286 from 4,943 PCR tests, the Minister told the briefing.

The total lab-confirmed cases in the country since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic is 20,833.

Of them, 837 people are in hospitals, 44 being in intensive care.

7,767 people are under quarantine.

The total number of Covid-19 related deaths is 825, including 12 over the past 24 hours.

The total recoveries is 14,634.

Over the past week, the new cases have gone up by 1,550. The largest number was reported in the districts of Sofia (57), Blagoevgrad (34) and Plovdiv (24) cases.

The biggest problem remains the insufficient number of medical staff, the fatigue and the fact that the number of medical professionals who get infected with coronavirus is increasing every day, the health minister said.

The incidence in schools and kindergartens in our country is the average for the whole country of the rest of the population. That is why there is no particular concern, said Minister Angelov.

There are more than 33 million cases worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins Institute, and more than 1 million deaths.

In the EU. Bulgaria is in 25th place in terms of morbidity and 8th in terms of mortality, said Assoc. Prof. Angel Kunchev, Chief State Health Inspector. Malta has the highest incidence. In the Balkans, Montenegro reports the largest number of positive cases, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of North Macedonia.

Currently, the situation in the army structures is under control, Gen. Ventsislav Mutafchiiski, the head of the Task Force said. He reminded that masks should be worn properly and are mandatory indoors.

"Our chance of waiting for the vaccine is to wear masks indoors. At least 15% do not wear their masks properly," he said, adding that recent studies show that people who wear their masks properly, even if infected, they go though the illness with mild or no symptoms. “The mask must be worn indoors," said Gen. Mutafchiiski.

Our health system is stable, said the Minister of Health Prof. Kostadin Angelov. It is important to build habits - wearing masks indoors, to observe reasonable hygiene and disinfection, rules for social distance. We as institutions will monitor compliance with these rules, and where they are not observed, we will impose appropriate sanctions, he added.