Bulgaria introduces Covid-19 green certificate for all indoor activities as of October 21

Bulgaria’s health authorities are introducing a Covid-19 green certificate for all indoor activities, caretaker Minister of Health, Stoycho Katsarov and his deputies Alexander Zlatanov and Toma Tomov said on October 19.

The requirement for the green certificate will come into effect through an Order from 00:01, Thursday, October 21.

The prevailing opinion of the experts was in favour of the green certificate option, said caretaker Minister Katsarov.

The number of infected is rising, the number of deaths is also going up, which forces us to take additional measures, he explained. He specified that they were discussed at the expert level, as well as at meetings with the tourism industry and representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science.

The Covid-19 green certificate is introduced for all indoor activities, including:

• restaurants and entertainment venues
• hotels
• cinemas
• theatres
• circus performances
• concerts
• art galleries
• shopping malls - over 300 sq.m (the measure does not apply to grocery stores and pharmacies)
• fitness centres
• sports halls
• clubs

All sites that do not meet the requirement for a green certificate from Thursday, October 21, will be closed.

A green certificate will be required for all employees in two areas:

• medical establishments for hospital care
• nursing homes

Visits to patients is hospitals are prohibited.

The prevailing opinion is that the requirement to comply with a green certificate is easier to control than the requirement to comply with requirements for premises, such as the number of tables, Katsarov explained.

The teams who monitor compliance with the green certificate will also be required to have one.

The following measures are introduced for schools:

• In-person attendance classes in schools in municipalities with a 14-day morbidity of more than 750 infections per 100,000 people is suspended.
• With a 14-day morbidity between 500 and 700 per 100,000 population, 50% attendance and 50% online classes will alternate.
• At this stage, it is not planned to introduce a green certificate for teachers in schools.

In schools and kindergartens, attendance classes will be held only in compliance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Education and Science, said the Minister.

With regard to schools, we have tried to meet the requirements of the Ministry of Education and Science. Therefore, both the guidelines and the schedule will be issued by them and agreed by them, caretaker Minister of Health said.

Our aim is to adhere as much as possible to in-person attendance classes, he added.

In universities, in-person training will be conducted only under the conditions of a green certificate.

The requirement for a green certificate will not apply for public transport, Katsarov said in response to a question from BNT.

There will also be strict control over the laboratories to prevent the issuance of false certificates.

The license of the laboratories will be revoked if there is any breach, the minister stressed.

A green certificate is not required for children under the age of 12, the health minister explained.

If the measures introduced tomorrow do not work, the only and last measure remains a national lockdown, he added. He called on the public to get vaccinated and to observe the restrictions.

The shortest possible period for the measures is 2 weeks. Then it will be seen whether there is an effect from them, Katsarov explained.

The Covid-19 green certificate can be issued if one of the three conditions is met:

• Vaccination against Covid-19
• Negative test result for Covid-19
• Recovery from Covid-19