site.btaGovernment Proposes Nationwide State of Emergency in Response to COVID-19

Sofia, March 13 (BTA) - Emerging from an extraordinary government meeting in the early hours of Friday, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said that the government will propose to Parliament to declare a nationwide state of emergency due to the increasing cases of coronavirus infections in the country.

The national coronavirus task force put forward the idea, and in doing so the authorities will invoke Article 84 of the Constitution.

If approved, the state of emergency will stay in place until the danger has passed and will allow the government to shut down schools, universities, private businesses, concert halls. A ban will be imposed on travel to certain countries, and people from countries with a high rate of COVID-19 infections will be prevented from entering the country.

The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry will continually update the list of countries to which travel is banned, while the Health Ministry that of countries from which visitors are banned.

The Prime Minister Borissov said that the measures taken by the government were timely but the recommendations were not observed.

He also estimated that the epidemic will cost about 3 billion leva and will shrink budget revenues. PP