News archive of March 2020

399 are the confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Bulgaria according to data from the National Operational Headquarters. The new laboratory-proven cases are 20, 19 of them in Sofia and one in Pernik.

146 of the infected are hospitalized,14 of whom are intubated.

There are 227 COVID-19 infected men and 172 COVID-19 infected women.

Greek Health Ministry representative Sotiris Tsiodras on Tuesday announced 82 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total nationwide to 1,314.
He said an additional 20 cases were reported among the crew of a cruise ship.  

President Katerina Sakellaropoulou phoned to congratulate a seamstress in the northern Greek city of Grevena on Tuesday who manufactured 600 surgical masks for the local hospital.

Sakellaropoulou praised Elona Angoli for her humanity, preparedness and contribution.

A court in Bosnia and Herzegovina has terminated restrictions on the movement of Turkish citizen Fatih Keskin, previously imposed by the Service for Foreigners' Affairs following his arrest and subsequent release in December last year, the court told BIRN BiH.

477 people were tested, out of which 115 were positive and 362 were negative.
In the last 24 hours, seven deaths have been registered in Serbia.

Turkey's Interior Ministry has said that municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) are "not abiding by the laws" in donation campaigns they launched during the coronavirus outbreak.

In a circular, the ministry said the municipalities need to get permission from the corresponding governor's offices for the launched donation campaigns.

The European Union announced Tuesday the launch of a new naval mission in the Mediterranean Sea aimed at enforcing the UN arms embargo on Libya, after Italy blocked a previous operation claiming that the warships attracted migrants to Europe's shores.

Medical workers in Montenegrin clinical centre. Photo: BIRN/Samir Kajosevic

Boban Mugosa denied the numbers - 237 medical workers self-isolating and 10 infected - were due to workplace exposure to COVID-19 or a lack of equipment, but because of "contacts at home."

Greek retail sales by volume rose 8.4 percent in January compared to the same month a year earlier after an upwardly revised 0.6 percent increase in December, statistics service ELSTAT said on Tuesday.
Retail sales were led higher by furniture, electrical appliances, apparel, footwear, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, the data showed.

Bosniak political parties in Serb-dominated Republika Srpska have threatened to try to veto a state of emergency intended to help curb the spread of the coronavirus because they say they have not received guarantees that checkpoints will not be set up on the boundaries of the entity to restrict movement.