site.btaBulgaria Lifts Quarantine, Isolation Requirement for COVID-19 Patients

Parliament decided on Friday to abolish the quarantine and isolation for people infected with COVID-19 and close contacts. The amendments to the Health Act were adopted unanimously on first and second reading.

The amendments were submitted by the Council of Ministers. The explanatory memorandum states that, given the current epidemiological nature of the disease, as well as the availability of effective vaccines in the country, the surveillance of COVID-19 and the readiness of medical personnel to treat patients, no further restrictive measures, such as compulsory isolation and quarantine, should be applied to the sick and their close contacts. Isolation should only be applied in health care facilities as part of the prevention and control of nosocomial infections.

The debate on the bill lasted for more than an hour and a half. In the course of the discussion, MPs touched on the subject of how many people have died from COVID-19, as well as who bears political responsibility for the measures imposed on society.