Bulgaria loosens measures drastically in two stages till May 6

Bulgaria continues to loosen measures in stages. Over the past week parks have been gradually opening for visitors, including national parks. Vitosha, which was closed for visits since the first days of the state of emergency, is freely accessible from today. Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova said the public transport to the mountain, however, will not resume for now.

Eleven city parks have now been open, more will follow. Limitations do apply though: parents with children may visit between 9:30 AM and 6:30 PM, people going out to exercise or walk their pets – before and after these hours. There is no timeframe for pregnant women in the guidelines, issued by Sofia Municipality. Using benches is forbidden, people should keep a distance of at least 2,5 meters from each other.

Today, Health Minister Kiril Ananiev put out a new order, outlining the cancelation of some restrictions.

From tomorrow, May 4, individual sport outside will be allowed. This includes tennis, golf, athletics, horseback riding, etc. Pools will also resume work, but under strict sanitary protocols.

On May 6, restaurants, bars and coffee shops will be permitted to open as well but can only serve outside and must provide large enough room to ensure clients are at a wide distance from one another. No more than four people may sit at one table and tables must be at least 2,5 meters apart. The staff must wear masks, follow strict hygiene rules; dispensers with disinfectant must be dispersed so that clients and staff can use them freely.

The Bulgarian Food Safety Agency is tasked to develop more special safety measures by May 5.

In the later hours of May 6 afternoon, the checkpoints at the entry points of cities will also cease to exist. The coronavirus crisis response team has not reached an agreement whether or not to open kindergartens. The decision for this will be made over the course of next week, the head of the team, General Ventsislav Mutafchiyski said.

Meanwhile, 30 new cases of coronavirus infection were confirmed since yesterday, bringing the total number of cases to 1618. 316 are hospitalized, 39 are in ICUs. 72 people with the virus have died.