site.btaPrime Minister Makes Government Helicopters Available for Transportation of Seriously Ill Patients

November 11 (BTA) - Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said on Wednesday that government helicopters can be used to transport seriously ill patients if necessary to save time. "We should act as one. Everybody should receive adequate care," Borissov said at the Council of Ministers regular meeting, as quoted by the Government Information Service. The meeting was held online due to COVID-19 risks.

The Prime Minister noted: "I do not want to see a shortage of ambulances, medicines, hospital beds. Reassure the people, they need it right now. In the meantime, the economy and the financial system should keep going so that we can meet the expenses and beat the pandemic. Ordering a lockdown is the easiest thing to do. But why issue orders, why proclaim a state of emergency, use coercion? Protect yourselves; that is what people do around the world!"

The discussion on tackling COVID-19 also involved Health Minister Kostadin Angelov, Chief State Health Inspector Angel Kounchev, Sofia's Pirogov Emergency Hospital Director Asen Baltov and Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Hospital COVID Unit Chief Atanas Mangurov.

Borissov went on to reason that countries which went on lockdown in the middle of October are now doing worse than Bulgaria as regards the spread of COVID-19. According to Kounchev, 14-day incidence of reported COVID-19 cases in Bulgaria is 518 per 100,000 population, which puts the country in 16th place in the EU, while Luxembourg has a ratio of 1,300 per 100,000 population, Czechia 1,200, and Slovenia 960.

Health Minister Angelov reported vigorous reorganization in the healthcare system. "We are in Step 2 now, with incidence exceeding 300 per 100,000 population," he said. In some regions, selected hospitals are being transformed into COVID-19-only establishments: in Blagoevgrad, Plovdiv, Shoumen. The capacity in Bourgas Region is being increased too.

The Prime Minister asked the competent authorities to make sure that people who have recovered from COVID-19 get the chance to donate plasma in the seaside city of Varna too. Currently, this is possible in Sofia. The Health Minister pledged that necessary equipment will be installed in three other cities as well: Plovdiv, Stara Zagora and Pleven. RI/VE
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