The last restrictive COVID-19 measures, including the use of masks in pharmacies and keeping a 1.5-meter distance in commercial establishments, will be removed, Bulgarian authorities announced on Wednesday.
The restrictions were introduced in Bulgaria on 13 March 2020 – five days after the first COVID case was documented. Currently, the number of hospitalised patients with COVID-19 in the country is 541, and the average number of new cases per day is about 350.
In the first three months of the pandemic, Bulgaria imposed very strict lockdowns and restricted the movement of people between cities.
Three months later, the country dramatically relaxed their strict measures and the Bulgarian approach became one of the most liberal in Europe.
After relaxing the rules, the chief of the National COVID-19 Headquarters and military doctor Ventsislav Mutafchiiski warned: “there will be a lot of death.”
Reports showed that Bulgaria had the second-highest COVID-19 death rate in the world after Peru, as well as one of the lower vaccination rates at just 31%.
Nearly 0.6% (37,000 people) of the Bulgarian population died after getting infected with the virus.
As for the current situation in hospitals, just 4.8% of beds are occupied and authorities report a 20% drop in hospitalisations since the start of November.
(Krassen Nikolov | EURACTIV.bg)
Source: euractiv.com
