site.bta202 COVID-19 Cases Confirmed in Bulgaria

Sofia, March 24 (BTA) - A total of 202 COVID-19 cases have been
confirmed in Bulgaria, Major-General Prof. Ventsislav
Moutafchiiski MD, who heads the national coronavirus task force,
 told a news briefing on Tuesday morning. The single newly
registered case is in Sofia.

Moutafchiiski said the upward trend in this country is
continuing. Of 120 patients examined at the Military Medical
Academy on Monday, three were hospitalized.

On Tuesday, the Health Minister is expected to order each
hospital to designate a ward with a potential for ICU beds for
coronavirus patients. This step was proposed by the task force
on Monday and was discussed with the Prime Minister.

New Covid-19 testing labs will open in Pleven, Plovdiv and
Bourgas. In Sofia, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the St
Ivan Rilski Hospital University Hospital and two private
hospitals have offered to open labs.

More donations were made for the fight against the coronavirus.
Some 500 tests were bought with state funds and all the rest,
about 6,000 tests, were bought with donor money, said
Moutafchiiski. Some 300 samples are tested daily. NV/DD