Bulgaria is a risk-free zone for tourists who want to visit the country but certain rules have to be observed. With less stringent measures than in Germany, we are achieving better results and our morbidity is lower, said outgoing health minister Prof. Kostadin Angelov during the weekly briefing of the National Operational Headquarters.

According to the latest data, our country ranks 20th in morbidity and 2nd in mortality in the European Union. There has been a sustained decrease in the number of Covid-19 patients, hospital admissions, as well as patients in intensive care units. There is not a single area designated in red on Bulgaria’s morbidity map, Kostadin Angelov also pointed out.

In his words, there is the possibility of extending the deadline for green immunization corridors against Covid-19 after 9 May, but this will be decided by the National Vaccination Task Force.

"Depending on the number of available doses, and if we have enough for a second jab, the green corridors may remain open further," he explained, adding: "The more vaccinated Bulgarians we have, the sooner the measures will become only an unpleasant memory."

The minister reminded that as of May 5 there is no longer a ban on the gathering of more than 15 people during holidays and celebrations.

For his part, the director of the National Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Prof. Todor Kantardzhiev explained that only the British strain of the virus is spreading in Bulgaria, and the detected mutations do not pose an epidemic hazard. Asked about the new coronavirus strains around the world, Prof. Kantardzhiev explained:

"So far, there is no widespread strain resistant to vaccines. They have little effect on the Brazilian, Indian and South African strains."

Bulgaria’s medicines agency head Bogdan Kirilov said that the European Medicines Agency was evaluating the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine with a view to approve its use to young people aged 12 to 17.

The first results from clinical trials were expected in June and a decision in that sense could be made soon after, he said.

He recommended that people returning from a country with established other strains should not reunite with relatives and friends not yet the next day, but to wait for the quarantine period of 10 days.

He recommended that people returning from a country with detected new strains should not reunite with relatives and friends on the next day, but to isolate themselves for a quarantine period of 10 days.

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