COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria

The COVID-19 pandemic has been occurring in Bulgaria since the beginning of March 2020 as part of the global COVID-19 pandemic that began in China in December 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic affects the novel disease COVID-19 . This is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus from the Coronaviridae group and belongs to the group of respiratory diseases . On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the outbreak of the novel coronavirus as a global pandemic .

Bulgaria is considered the poorest country in the EU (see list of countries by gross domestic product per capita ); it is relatively small (110,994 km²), has about 7.1 million inhabitants and is relatively sparsely populated with 64 inhabitants / km². Seven cities have more than 100,000 inhabitants (see List of Cities in Bulgaria # Urban Settlements by Population ); the capital Sofia has over 1.2 million inhabitants.

Course and measures

On March 8, 2020, the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Bulgaria. As of March 31, 2020, there were 413 confirmed cases in 22 out of 28 Bulgarian provinces with 8 registered deaths and 17 people cured. As of March 26, 2020, a total of 6454 tests were carried out in suspected COVID-19 cases.

A state of emergency was declared in Bulgaria on March 13th. Schools, kindergartens and universities have been closed since then, as have cultural institutions, theaters and cinemas. The winter sports resort of Bansko was temporarily quarantined.

On April 6, the Bulgarian Minister of Health, Kiril Ananiev, ordered that no foreigners (regardless of nationality) from Italy, Spain, France, Great Britain, Germany, Austria and Switzerland were allowed to enter Bulgaria. Bulgarian citizens are still allowed to enter.

On April 10, the state of emergency was extended to May 13.

Since April 17, 2020 (Orthodox Good Friday), vehicles (with a few exceptions) are not allowed to leave or enter Sofia. The day before, there had been around 800 proven infected people, 38 infected people had died since the beginning of the pandemic. In the days before, many Bulgarians had left Sofia by car; In their mandatory declarations they (according to Interior Minister Mladen Marinow) made false statements.

The outdoor areas of restaurants and cafés were allowed to reopen on May 7th.

EU citizens have been allowed to enter Bulgaria again since May 22, but have to undergo a 14-day quarantine (as of May 26). On June 1, the quarantine requirement ceased to apply to citizens of most EU member states as well as to Serbia, North Macedonia and all non-EU Schengen members . Entrants from Sweden, Ireland, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Malta and Italy are still subject to the quarantine obligation. On June 4, after a reassessment of the epidemic situation, the quarantine requirement was reintroduced for North Macedonian citizens and abolished for Montenegrin and Bosnian-Herzegovinian citizens. In accordance with an ordinance of July 15, travelers from Sweden and Portugal (among the EU countries) must either show a negative result of an RT-PCR test or undergo a 14-day quarantine.

Despite the sharp increase in the number of cases, Bulgaria relaxed corona rules on June 15, 2020. For example, there was no longer any obligation to wear mouth and nose protection in shops, shopping centers, authorities, cinemas and theaters. This obligation was reintroduced on June 23. Due to the sharp increase in infections, numerous holiday flights to Bulgaria have been canceled. The mayor of Burgas , Dimitar Nikolow , reported 150 canceled flights to Burgas for July.

On July 8, the Austrian Foreign Ministry issued a travel warning for Bulgaria.

On July 10, a number of measures were reintroduced, including the banning of spectators from sporting events and the closure of the closed rooms of discos, nightclubs and piano bars.

On August 7, the German Foreign Ministry issued a travel warning for certain areas of Bulgaria, including the tourist stronghold of Golden Sands .

statistics

The number of cases developed during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria as follows:

Infections

Confirmed infections (cumulative) in Bulgaria
according to WHO data

New infections in Bulgaria
according to WHO data

Deaths

Confirmed deaths (cumulative) in Bulgaria
according to WHO data

Confirmed deaths (daily) in Bulgaria
according to WHO data

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Cases reported to WHO by national authorities are listed here. Since the situation is very dynamic, there may be discrepancies or delays between the cases of the WHO and the data of national authorities as well as the information provided by other bodies, such as the Johns Hopkins University (CSSE).

See also

• List of epidemics and pandemics
• List of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic

Web links

Commons : COVID-19 Pandemic in Bulgaria  - Pictures, Videos and Audio Files Collection

• World Health Organization (WHO): Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) situation reports on the website www.who.int (English)
• Johns Hopkins CSSE : Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases. (English)
• Website World of Meters : real-time data of the Corona virus pandemic (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ [1]
2. ↑ [2]
3. ↑ https://www.saechsische.de/ueberblick-corona-einschraenkungen-in-europa-5188619.html
4. ↑ https://www.wz.de/panorama/wie-das-coronavirus-die-welt-veraendert_aid-49811665
5. ↑ https://www.onvista.de/news/virus-bulgariens-regierung-will-ausnahmestatus-verlaengern-343885033
6. ↑ https://www.boerse-online.de/nachrichten/aktien/virus-bulgarien-verbietet-auslaendern-die-einreise-1029069487
7. ↑ https://www.onvista.de/news/virus-bulgarien-verlaengert-einschraenkungen-in-corona-krise-347708817
8. ↑ FAZ.net April 17, 2020 / Kira Kramer: [3]
9. ↑ https://www.rnd.de/politik/corona-lockerungen-in-bulgarien-sport-im-frei-und-fahrunterricht-wieder-erlaubt-UP7PNTTBN64HCOJKICNKMJCCPA.html
10. ↑ https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/laender/bulgarien-node/bulgariensicherheit/211834
11. ↑ Spain wants holidaymakers from some countries to enter the country earlier , Deutsche Welle , May 30, 2020
12. ↑ Пристигащите у нас от Република Северна Македония подлежат на 14-дневна карантина , file , in German: Incoming ministers from North Macedonia on June 14th 2020 are subject to a ministerial ordinance (PDF 14 June 2020) of the Bulgarian Ministry of Health.
13. ↑ Ministerial Ordinance of July 15, 2020 (PDF file)
14. ↑ https://www.onvista.de/news/steigende-corona-fallzahlen-erneut-maskenpflicht-in-bulgarien-372206891
15. ↑ https://sofiaglobe.com/2020/06/21/first-scheduled-charter-flight-to-bulgaria-cancelled-because-of-covid-19/
16. ↑ https://www.swp.de/panorama/corona-oesterreich-reisewarnung-fuer-bulgarien-rumaenien-moldau-infektionszahl-wien-oberoesterreich-47650826.html
17. ↑ Ordinance of the Minister of Health of July 9, 2020 (PDF file)
18. ↑ https://www.merkur.de/reise/coronavirus-risikogebiet-auswaertiges-amt-bulgarien-ballermann-rumaenien-zr-90020895.html
19. ↑ ^{a b c d} Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) situation reports. WHO, accessed July 27, 2020 .