2020 coronavirus pandemic in Bulgaria

2020 coronavirus pandemic in Bulgaria

Sofia Lom/Vasilovtsi Pleven Gabrovo Plovdiv Varna Lovech Bansko Pernik 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Bulgaria (Bulgaria) Confirmed cases Suspected cases
Disease	COVID-19
Virus strain	SARS-CoV-2
Location	Bulgaria
First case	Pleven, Gabrovo
Arrival date	8 March 2020
Origin	Wuhan, Hubei, China (globally) local source unknown
Confirmed cases	81
Suspected cases‡	270+
Recovered	0
Deaths	2
‡ Suspected cases have not been confirmed as being due to this strain by laboratory tests, although some other strains may have been ruled out.

The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Bulgaria when the country's first case was confirmed on 8 March 2020. As of 17 March 2020, there are 81 confirmed cases – 54 in Sofia, 9 in Montana Province, 4 in Pleven, 3 in Varna, 3 in Bansko, 2 in Pernik, 2 in Blagoevgrad, 2 in Gabrovo and 1 in Lovech — and two deaths.

Background

A national Coronavirus task force was formed by the Bulgarian government on 5 March.

Confirmed arrival of COVID-19

8 March

On 8 March 2020 Bulgaria confirmed its first two cases, a 27-year-old man from Pleven and a 75-year-old woman from Gabrovo. Neither of the two reported having traveled to areas with known coronavirus cases. The man tested positive for the virus after being hospitalized for a respiratory infection, and authorities announced plans to test several people who were in contact with the two individuals. Two other samples in Pleven and Gabrovo were found positive on 8 March. Patient zero remains unknown.

On the same day, the hospital in Gabrovo requested additional personnel from other hospitals in the country, as it only had three communicable diseases specialists. All of its internal medicine specialists have been quarantined after one of the four initial cases was confirmed to be a nurse at the hospital. The government issued a nationwide ban on closed-door public events. The origin of the outbreak remains unknown, and the Ministry of Interior is tracking down all individuals who have been in contact with the patients. As of 8 March, 254 suspected cases were under quarantine across the country.

10 March

COVID-19 cases in Bulgaria  ()      Deaths        Recoveries        Active cases
Date			# of cases
2020-03-08		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	4(n.a.)
⋮		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	4(=)
2020-03-10		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	6(+50%)
2020-03-11		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	7(+17%)
2020-03-12		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	23(+229%)
2020-03-13		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	31(+35%)
2020-03-14		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	41(+32%)
2020-03-15		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	51(+24%)
2020-03-16		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	62(+22%)
2020-03-17		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	81(+31%)
Sources: Republic of Bulgaria - Ministry of Health [1] [2]

Two additional cases were confirmed in Sofia on 10 March 2020: a 74-year-old man and his 66-year-old wife. Both have arrived from Lom two weeks prior to admission. The woman died on the next day, becoming the first COVID-19 victim in the country.

11 March

A suspected case of a 33-year-old man was reported by the Saint George Hospital in Plovdiv on 11 March. The same day, a 40-year-old woman in Varna showed COVID-19 symptoms on CT scan, although regional health authorities have not yet confirmed the case.

12 March

By 12 March, the number of cases had increased to 23, most of them in Sofia. Many of these had been in contact with the elderly couple admitted to Pirogov Hospital on 10 March.

13 March

On March 13, after 16 reported cases in one day, Bulgaria declared state of emergency for one month until April 13. Schools, shopping centres, cinemas, restaurants, and other places of business were closed. All sports events were suspended. Only supermarkets, food markets, pharmacies, banks and gas stations remain open. Additionally, all arrivals from Italy, Spain, Iran, South Korea and China are placed under a mandatory 14-day quarantine. There were 13 breaches of quarantine; patients involved were returned to treatment facilities and warned of repercussions, including fines and prison sentences.

14 March

On 14 March, a second death and a third case in Pleven were reported. The second victim of the virus was the 74-year old husband of the first victim.

15 March

The number of confirmed cases in Bulgaria rose to 51 on March 15. A total of 83 tests were done at the Military Medical Academy, of which six were positive, and 51 were processed at the National Reference Laboratory, of which two were positive. In Varna, one test out of 12 samples proved positive.

16 March

The Ministry of Health announced that citizens from a number of countries will be prohibited from entering Bulgaria starting 00:00 on 18 March. These are China, Iran, Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Spain, Italy, South Korea, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Additionally, sanitary control units will be established on some border crossings with Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece and Romania. The number of total cases rose to 62, including two British citizens vacationing in Bansko.

Statistics

Day	New cases	Total cases	Total deaths
8 March 2020	4	4	0
9 March 2020	0	4	0
10 March 2020	2	6	0
11 March 2020	1	7	1
12 March 2020	16	23	1
13 March 2020	8	31	1
14 March 2020	10	41	2
15 March 2020	10	51	2
16 March 2020	11	62	2
17 March 2020	19	81	2

Preventive measures

At the time of the announcement, schools had already been closed until March 11 due to an influenza B epidemic. A massive increase in influenza B cases prompted suspensions of routine medical examinations, and a recommendation by the government for suspension of lectures at universities.

Following the announcement of positive SARS-CoV-2 test results, the Bulgarian government immediately banned the exports of protective equipment and placed orders for masks and protective suits to local manufacturers. In addition, 30,000 masks and 50,000 protective suits will be delivered by Turkey. Some 111,000 suits and masks are required every month and the government plans to distribute them to health workers, social assistants, law enforcement personnel and border guards. Sofia Municipality has increased disinfections to four times daily at public institutions and in public transport. Personnel in all hospitals is being screened for the disease.

Bulgarian biotechnology company Micar21 has been developing a general Coronavirus vaccine in the past four years, and announced that it will begin clinical trials of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine based on this research in mid-2020.

Criticism

Georgi Todorov, a Bulgarian doctor with experience in viral breakouts in Ghana, criticised the handling of the COVID-19 threat. In particular, Todorov stated that Bulgaria's health administration is so rife with nepotism that it cannot come up with any coherent response; as a result, infectious disease specialists were not taken into account when formulating response policies, and no specific locations were designated for potential COVID-19 cases. Todorov further assumed that infected individuals may have not been identified because of improper application of testing procedures.

According to Prof. Milan Milanov, former manager of Pirogov Hospital, the government's response was "catastrophically delayed", although he added that there's no room for panic as COVID-19 treatment was "the same as with influenza".