Bulgarian Health Minister: For now, a full lockdown in the country is not necessary

Sofia [Bulgaria], October 16 (ANI/Novinite): The measures proposed by the chief state health inspector will be discussed on Monday at an extraordinary meeting of an extended panel of the expert council, caretaker Minister Stoycho Katsarov told the media. He assured that a complete lockdown in the country - everything closed and people staying at home, is not necessary for now.
Two alternative types of measures have been proposed - one of them is to use a green certificate without restrictions on the capacity of public places. The other - additional restrictions and suspension of activities are offered if you do not step on a green certificate. The green certificate is what is accepted throughout the EU as a green certificate - disease, vaccination, antigen or PCR test.
The order will be issued next week.
For schools, the proposal is to make the calculations on the basis of a municipality, not a district, in order for the maximum number of schools to continue to operate in person. The measures will be coordinated with the Ministry of Education and Science.
All stakeholders - civil, business, professional and industry organizations, will be able to comment on the proposed measures.
Katsarov has ordered an additional one million antigen tests to be purchased quickly, should the green certificate option be adopted, allow more people to be tested and obtain such a green certificate. The tests will be at the expense of the state, but the taking of the sample and the performance of the manipulation itself will be paid for by the patients. The tests must be performed in certified laboratories.
Antibody tests are not a document that can certify the presence of immune protection, Katsarov stressed. One of the arguments - nowhere in the EU and the world such a document is perceived as a basis for issuing a green certificate.
Minister Katsarov handed over 18 new equipped ambulances to 11 metropolitan emergency centers.
The work of the emergency medics is difficult, Katsarov explained, and in the conditions of the third epidemic wave, it is even harder. We owe gratitude and appreciation to all these people for their efforts. Our emergency care, as well as our health care system, needs a number of organizational changes and improvements to work better.
I think that the staff also needs better pay, which I will offer in the preparation of the next state budget, said the Minister of Health.
I have made a change in the medical standard for emergency care, which allows more hospitals to open emergency departments, compared to their number now, which would also make it easier for emergency medical centers. But more serious changes will require more time and changes in the laws, which requires a functioning National Assembly, he added.
The ambulances were purchased in the implementation of the project "Support for the development of the emergency medical care system", funded by the Operational Program "Growing Regions" 2014-2020. The project has a total budget of BGN 163,897,815.62. With this delivery, the total number of ambulances provided under the project for use by the centers for emergency medical care in the country is 358. (ANI/Novinite)