A fifth of COVID-19 patients in Bulgaria have symptoms, 5% receive hospital treatment

Bulgaria currently ranks eights in terms of fatality rate due to COVID-19. Regarding the transmission of the coronavirus, the country is 25^th in Europe. About a fifth of the infected exhibit any symptoms. 5% are hospitalized.

The main risk regarding managing the crisis remains the shortage of medical personnel in Bulgaria. Otherwise, the team reported, the healthcare system is overall stable.

This information was shared with reporters during today’s renewed weekly briefings of the Coronavirus Crisis Response Team. The briefings were daily in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and carried out until summer. PM Boyko Borissov ordered their renewal last week, except for now, they will report to the public on a weekly basis.

The past several weeks have seen a rise in cases, which is consistent with the trend in the rest of Europe. Still, Health Minister Kostadin Angelov assured, the situation is not bad.

"Our only chance to remain healthy until a vaccine is discovered, is for us to wear masks", said the head of the Crisis Coronavirus Response Team Dr. Ventsislav Mutafchiyski.

He noted and urged for people to wear the masks correctly, and that they are mandatory in all closed public spaces.

Health Minister Kostadin Angelov pointed out it is important to build habits to protect ourselves from COVID-19.

"We cannot live with restriction measures and lockdowns forever. This is why we need to get used to live with the notion and awareness of the excrescence of the coronavirus infection and build habits – mask wearing in closed spaces, maintaining good hygiene and disinfection, social and physical distance," Minister Angelov said.

Over the past week the number of new cases have exceeded twice the number of the recovered, the data shows. The reported daily new cases are 286, out of 4934 PCR tests, or 5,8%.

The total registered positive coronavirus infections since the outbreak in Bulgaria is 20833, 5374 are currently active. Of those, 837 are in hospital, 44 are in ICUs. 825 people with a coronavirus infection have died, 12 in the past 24 hours. 14634 are the recovered cases.