Sofia, Jan 11, (dpa/GNA) – Bulgaria’s entire state leadership has gone into coronavirus quarantine as a precautionary measure.
This includes President Rumen Radev, as well as Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, the economy minister, the minister of the interior, and all other party and parliamentary group leaders.
The country’s chief health inspector said on Tuesday that the quarantine was in response to news that the speaker of the parliament, Nikola Minchev, has the virus. He had participated in a six-hour consultation with the politicians about North Macedonia on Monday.
How long each contact person must remain isolated will be determined by the health department, after their vaccination status is checked.
Bulgaria has been overtaken by a fifth wave of the coronavirus since the beginning of the year, driven by the Omicron variant. On Monday, 6,761 new infections were detected in a population of 6.5 million. The seven-day incidence was 517.9 new infections per 100,000 people within one week. A fortnight ago, this figure was 133.5.
Bulgaria continues to be at the bottom of the EU in terms of vaccination. Only 28.1 per cent of the population has received the two doses of vaccine that are usually required. Only 5.5 percent have received an additional booster vaccination.
GNA