Petar Velkov: Covid-19 Epidemic in Bulgaria Is Far from Being under Control

"The available data on Coronavirus morbidity rate do not show that we can start relaxing the anti-epidemic measures," Petar Velkov, a professor and crisis management expert, told BNR

In his words, in recent weeks, not just days, Bulgaria continues to top mortality rates charts, and the number of positive tests for Coronavirus shows that the virus is highly spread throughout the country.

"Everything is against the sound logic of loosening measures at the moment," Velkov said on the "Before Everyone" BNR show. 

"It is very important that antigen tests are also used as a source of information on morbidity. The negative result in antigen tests should not be taken at its face value and it is necessary to confirm it with PCR if a person has symptoms," he explained. However, the positive test, according to Velkov, should be equalized with the PCR result.

The situation in Bulgaria is very far from being under control, he stressed.

Velkov is of the opinion that if nurseries and kindergartens are opened followed by stepwise opening of other facilities "we will do nothing, if we open in a week, it will get worse than before we closed". We have close them now without being able to see an effective result", he said.

We do not have working disease tracking and quarantine system as of yet and the entire health system continues to be exhausted, Petar Velkov also noted.

If the pandemic is managed efficiently and with clear and precise measures, there will be no total lockdowns, Velkov summed up.