Key decisions were made at today’s online meeting of the Council of Ministers. The cabinet is sitting in absentia due to the quarantine imposed on the prime minister and chief of staff.
At an operational meeting, ministers discussed a National Operational Plan to address COVID-19. The main criterion in it for the first time will be the percentage of intensive care beds in hospitals. It is this percentage that will determine what restrictive measures will be introduced. The plan envisages 4 stages with specific measures for each of them, which are announced in advance to the attention of citizens and businesses. More serious restrictions will be imposed when the number of beds in the country’s intensive care units becomes critically limited.
Borislavova: We are working to postpone a complete lockdown
Measures will be taken at regional rather than national level, according to the prevalence of the virus and standard referral practices for covid patients. The mathematical model that the plan will work on will allow for five days’ notice before restrictive measures are imposed, and every citizen will be able to monitor the percentage of free beds in the intensive care units on a daily basis.
The aim of the new plan is for the state to have the fastest and most adequate response to the challenges posed by the pandemic. The Prime Minister undertook to make every effort and available resources to avoid the closure of the economy and the reintroduction of distance learning.
The government session also approved legislative amendments to the Bulgarian Citizenship Act, which provide for the abolition of obtaining Bulgarian citizenship by foreigners in exchange for investments. The changes came after a thorough analysis, according to which this policy is ineffective and does not lead to real investment in the Bulgarian economy and job creation. The government’s decision took into account the concerns expressed by the European Commission about the continuing legal possibility in Bulgaria to acquire Bulgarian citizenship by naturalization in exchange for pre-determined payments.
At today’s meeting, the Council of Ministers doubled the state-subsidized places for admission of students from the Republic of Northern Macedonia in Bulgarian universities. The places increase from 150 to 300, and up to five students will be able to continue their doctoral studies in full-time form. The changes are aimed at expanding and strengthening education as a priority area of Bulgarian policy towards the Republic of Northern Macedonia and the Bulgarians living there.