PM Boyko Borissov held on Tuesday a meeting with the Bulgarian virus task force. It was attended by Health Minister Kiryl Ananiev and the National Council of Ministers who discussed the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria and sought ways of expanding the number of intensive care hospital beds to better prepare the national health care system for an eventual surge in the coronavirus spread.
PM Borissov ordered further talks with the national health insurance fund and the Medical Union of Bulgarian for the provision of additional funding for COVID tests and clinical treatment of the disease.
“Stock up on protective clothing, masks, and shields. We should ensure a surplus of everything needed”, said the Prime Minister.
Borissov stressed that there are millions of infected people worldwide and that the Europen Union is still struggling to come up with a unified response, incl. in regards to the opening of the bloc’s borders”.
“There is no expert that can say for sure how long this unprecedented plague is going to last”.
In such a scenario, Borssiov believes it is of utter importance to curb the spread of the virus by monitoring local clusters and strictly enforcing the restriction measures.
Head of the Bulgarian virus task force Ventsislav Mutafchyiski also agreed that increasing hospital bed capacity should be a top priority in tackling the crisis. Chief national health inspector Angel Kunchev highlighted that Bulgaria remains focused on preemptive epidemiological measures.
Lab capacities across the country have been drastically increased since the beginning of pandemic, said Head of National Center for Control and Prevention of Diseases, Todor Kantadrzhiev. He pointed out that it remains crucial to closely monitor clusters in larger communities. Officials from the virus task force stressed that COVID-19 spreads mainly at festivals and religious events.
Pictures provided by the National Council of Ministers’ Press Center show all attendees of the meeting but PM Boyko Borissov abiding to the order for wearing protective masks in closed spaces.
PM Boyko Borissov was already fined for not wearing a protective mask during his visit to Rila Monastery. Just a couple of days ago Health Minister Kiryl Ananiev said that “people breaking the mandatory order for wearing of protective masks will be fined with disregard of their social status or rank”.
The fine for not wearing a mask is 300 leva and the question remains whether PM Borissov will be fined again for repeatedly breaking the curbing measures.
