Bulgaria’s coronavirus task force will no longer hold daily briefings

The restrictions introduced in Bulgaria due to the coronavirus will probably be lifted on June 15. Wearing masks indoors will be a recommendation. For the time being, the 14-day quarantine for arrivals to Bulgaria from the 8 countries in the EU with high incidence of coronavirus is not expected to be lifted. The daily briefings of the National Coronavirus Task Force will no longer be held.

The Task Force will not provide data on the spread of the coronavirus at daily briefings at 8 am, but will continue to operate until the end of the year, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said at the last daily briefing of the task force on June 4.

100 days after the establishment of the task force, Prime Minister Borissov said: “ We did a great job in a very serious contagion and pandemic. Physical distancing, self-discipline and disinfection gave us the opportunity to prepare our hospitals, protective clothing, medicines.”

He added that the patients diagnosed with Covid-19 in the country were treated with the most successful therapy in the world right from the very start of the epidemic.

I do not take credit, but what we did was a miracle, he added.

The Prime Minister announced that the daily briefings of the coronavirus task force are over.

Boyko Borissov, Prime Minister: Somehow this constant airing of the task force’s briefings creates a feeling of anxiety. I repeat, we must learn to live with this virus. It has not subsided. We want to return to a normal life purely psychologically.

The next steps towards a normal lifestyle are expected in the middle of June.

All measures in the orders of the health minister should be lifted except the recommendation for personal hygiene, disinfection, keeping safe physical distance and wearing a mask, the chief health inspector, associate professor Angel Kounchev said.

Everyone who wants to wear a mask should wear it. Those who are more timid - let them wear masks, PM Boyko Borissov said.

The PM warned the virus has not subsided, but that people need to learn to live along with it. We want to return to normal life as soon as possible, the economy to start, and to think about mental health, Borissov added.

Physical distancing and disinfection are clearly proven to be effective in the fight against COVID-19. They must continue to be respected. Let's continue to wash our hands after June 15. Whoever wants, let them wear masks indoors. We have to be careful, to protect each other, there is no vaccine, no medicine, he said.

For now, we do not intend to lift the 14-day quarantine rule for those arriving from third countries (non-EU), he added.

From June 15 we hope to ease the traffic between Bulgaria and Greece. Mitsotakis (Greek PM) doesn't want it sooner because they're afraid. He will visit us on June 24, Borissov added.

The PM noted that we should not make the mistake of neighbouring North Macedonia, which has lost control in the recent days and the coronavirus infections have risen sharply.