"As soon as this epidemic started, we said we would win this battle with common sense and discipline. Over time, we see people hesitant about discipline." This was stated by the Minister of Health Prof. Kostadin Angelov at a briefing of the Ministry of Health and the National Operational Headquarters.

He stressed that according to the number of infected people in the country, there is a tendency to increase the number of new cases. According to him, the health system has enough hospital beds at the national level.

"If we look at things in areas, we will see that we are starting to feel difficulties. They are due to several basic things. The first - Bulgarians are rational people, but not all of us follow the measures as prescribed. Our measures are light enough. The most important "One of them is wearing masks. As we observe the lack of discipline and noncompliance with these measures, we will increase control," Angelov said.

The control will be conducted daily, even at night by all institutions, in places where there is a concentration of people. These include malls, nightclubs, restaurants. The RHI will first issue a prescription, if it is not complied with, the establishment will be closed.

"Laws are for everyone, where they are not observed, there will be sanctions," said Prof. Angelov.

"Regarding the number of patients with COVID-19 - 1380 are hospitalized, 67 are in intensive care units. To date, we have 19% occupancy of beds for patients in need of treatment without respiratory resuscitation and 6% for patients in serious condition and need of respiratory resuscitation," announced the Minister of Health.

Prof. Angelov stressed that the infected medical workers so far are 1440. For the last 24 h, the cases of newly infected medics are 25. 394 are active cases of medics, of which 327 are for home treatment, 60 are in medical institutions, Angelov added. Only 7 are in intensive care units. The medics cured so far are 1030, the dead - 16.

In 2 districts - Blagoevgrad and Targovishte, there is a morbidity of over 120 people per 100,000. The Minister of Health urged not to travel to these districts, unless necessary.

"In terms of measures. A few days ago, we said that measures would be regional and targeted. Regional headquarters in Targovishte has ordered much stricter measures than on a national scale. I expect that Blagoevgrad will do the same today," said the Chief State Health Inspector Assoc. Prof. Angel Kunchev. He presented data on the epidemic situation in Europe and our country.

"The epidemic situation in Europe for a 14-day period, despite the serious growth in Bulgaria, shows that we continue not to change our place. At the moment we are in the 22nd place out of 30 countries. We are in 5th place in the Balkans, and there is no change here either. The mortality rate is 1.56 per 100 thousand, which gives us 8th place in the EU. All these data are based on the statistics for the last 2 weeks," said Assoc. Prof. Angel Kunchev.

In his opinion, there are no changes in the age structure of people who give a positive result.​​​​​​​ The number of positive cases did not lead to a large increase in deaths, which also increased, but at a much slower pace.

He added that there is an increase in the tests performed in our country. The limit of 400 tests per 100 thousand population has been passed. Kunchev explained that the EU requires many tests and only then accepts the results representative. Bulgaria is definitely above this number, added the health inspector.

The cases in intensive care units logically followed the morbidity curve, noted Assoc. Prof. Kunchev.

"It's no surprise that the virus is more prevalent in certain areas. It's the same with the common flu. The virus is dynamic, variable," the state's chief health inspector added.

No new measures will be taken, assured the Minister of Health, as this is not necessary at the moment.

"If people do not believe in the measures and don't follow them, tell me, is there a need for new measures? Let's follow the current measures. No matter how tired the RHI colleagues are, they will work at night, "said Prof. Angelov.

The Minister of Health also explained how to act if a student shows flu symptoms. The parents had two options - to contact the GP to take the necessary action, or to take their child for an examination. The Ministry of Health adheres to the first option. If, on the other hand, mass testing is conducted with rapid tests among students, there is a risk of obtaining incorrect results, the minister believes.

"The number of laboratories that import information is too large, requires serious processing. About 1,500 tests are performed in the national healthcare system. All other units are made in private laboratories and we cannot know the reason why someone was tested. The fast and combined tests, before we recommend and use them, we must give them for validation in NCIPD and when we confirm, then we use them," added Assoc. Prof. Kunchev.

As the number of infected people is the highest in Sofia, a decision was made on Wednesday to increase the number of beds in Alexandrovska Hospital and Pirogov. The Ministry of Health has no fears that private hospitals will not be involved in treating COVID-19.

General practitioners have sent the Ministry of Health two options for a method to schedule a PCR test on their personal patients. Angelov explained that it is the preferred option in which patients' symptoms are assessed according to a scheme.