Coronavirus in Bulgaria: Situation Is Deteriorating But More Vaccines Coming Soon

In some regions of the country, the situation with coronavirus is deteriorating and it raises serious concerns, Health Minister Kostadin Angelov acknowledged. However, he added that such a development was expected because of the spread of the novel strain of the virus - the British one.

"In the months since the outbreak of the pandemic Bulgaria has achieved a lot. We certainly made mistakes. I accept every criticism, but I won't accept the mud-slinging. Whoever promises you a life without diseases lies to you. There are no experts in everything. We’re losing our desire to be together and stand up to the coronavirus. And it happens only in Bulgaria. I thank all doctors, nurses, paramedics and people who comply with the measures", said Health Minister Kostadin Angelov.

He added that doctors cannot fight for the life of patients who does not want to take care of themselves.

"We have learned many lessons during this year. There are a lot of passions and woes shared in the public domain. We confront with a lot of lies and false claims, but we bare responsibility for everything. You can lie to the whole world, but you can't lie to yourself. This is the biggest battle of our time. We have to believe in science, and science is vaccines."

"I was in Burgas yesterday. The situation is worrying there. In infectious wards I saw several children, among them there are babies 3 months, 5 months old. In them, the disease develops mildly, but they all have bilateral pneumonia," the Health Minister stressed.

The occupancy rate of beds for intensively care patients in hospitals is currently 65%, the Minister announced.

In terms of morbidity Bulgaria ranks 16th in the European Union and 5th on the Balkans in the last 14 days, according to the Chief State Health Inspector Assoc. Prof. Angel Kunchev. The highest incidence rate is in the regions of Pleven, Kyustendil, Vratsa, Burgas, Sofia, Shumen and Pernik. In these regions, a decision was taken yesterday to introduce various local restrictive measures.

With the lowest morbidity in Bulgaria remain Targovishte, Vidin, Kardzhali, Razgrad and Dobrich, Kunchev added.

"There has been a lot of criticism that we decided to send school students back home for online learning, but there is a school with 13 sick teachers," explained Angel Kunchev.

He also quoted an example with a nursing home in the country where there is an epidemic. "There are 17 Covid-19 patients there, a month ago they refused immunization," he explained.

Prof. Mutafchiiski: Death toll rises - fastest since September

"It's been over a year since the pandemic outbreak. I have a vivid memory of how it all started - with a only one lab. Now there are over 100. It's a huge job that has been done from the beginning. There was a lot of criticism about what kind of work we did. Now we can see what spring we saved last year, I say it with great regret," said Gen. Ventsislav Mutafchiiski.

The increase in morbidity in our country is by 58%. We are seeing an increase in cases for at least 14 days. We are currently at the level of November 5, the head of National Operational Headquarters stressed. Commenting on mortality, he said that there has been a steep rise in the curve, which has not been seen since September. These figures are troubling, health authorities say.

"There are hospitals with exhausted or half-exhausted capacity. We have five vacant beds at the MMA, although we have opened two new wards. By the time I get back from the briefing, these beds will be occupied. The situation is very serious and that is why we have not given optimistic evidence that things are going in the right direction. No, they're not going in the right direction. Such a sharp rise in morbidity data medical resources will quickly be exhausted," he said.

"At the moment, it is even more important for people to understand that they have to keep distance, wear masks, avoid public places. Something that makes a strong impression - at previous peaks we had families where one or two members were not infected, now they go in full kit, they are all infected," Mutafchiiski said.

It is not recommended to block the problem batch of AstraZeneca.

Yesterday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) published information on AstraZeneca's blocked shipment. There is no evidence of causation, and inquiries into the case are continuing.

However, the agency has stated categorically that it does not recommend that states block this batch. It has been delivered to 17 countries, including Bulgaria. 31,200 doses were delivered to Bulgaria on February 12, almost all of which were administered, said Bogdan Kirilov, CEO of the Bulgarian Drugs Agency.

This week, two shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccine are due to arrive in our country, and we expect deliveries of Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, he said.

Today, the European Medicines Agency is expected to come up with a decision on the use of a fourth vaccine - that of Janssen. If the opinion is favourable, the European Commission will issue a marketing authorisation. The first deliveries do not have fixed dates, but it is clear that they will be made in April.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!