Bulgarian Minister of Labor: It’s Too Early to Loosen Lockdown Measures

The lockdown will remain for at least another three weeks. No anti-coronavirus measures will be loosened until January 31, said Minister of Labor and Social Policy Denitsa Sacheva for "This Morning" program on bTV.

"We have an agreement with the National Operational Headquarters that no measures will be relaxed before January 31. This and possibly next week, when we see their latest results, a decision will be taken.Just because we have a few days with good markers shouldn't make us relax. We need to complete the full cycle by the end of the month to make sure we have achieved a stable rate of reduction in the infected," she added.

"Almost 40,000 people applied for support under the measure for closed businesses. So far, about 6,000 received aid and in the coming days we will be thinking about how to step up payments for the business", Sacheva pointed out.

She assures that there is no artificial retention of unemployment rates.

"These rates stand at about 6.7%. There were only three days in December, when there was a greater influx of people who wanted to register with labor offices so they could take social benefits, especially for those linked to child support. However, we have changed the condition so as not to artificially increase the aid consumption, which is meant for those who need it most," the minister said.

"There will be a one-off aid for pensioners in April - BGN 120 instead of vouchers. 392,000 are the people who will get it. These are people with a pension of BGN 300.01 to BGN 369," she added.

"It is possible that pensioners will continue to receive BGN 50 after the end of March, but we have not yet discussed this with the Coalition Council," the minister stressed.

"At this stage, the percentage share...