SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgaria’s government plans to extend the country’s state of national emergency for a further month to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, as its confirmed cases rose to 412.
The Black Sea state’s parliament voted unanimously on March 13 to declare a state of emergency until April 13 to contain the spread of the virus.
Тhe government said in a statement on Wednesday it has decided to ask the parliament to extend that measure until May 13.
Like other countries in Europe, Bulgaria has introduced strict curbs on travel between cities and abroad, closed schools, restaurants and bars, and restricted access to parks.
The town of Kozloduy, site of the country’s sole nuclear power plant, and the province of Stara Zagora in southern Bulgaria imposed a night curfew that bars residents and visitors from leaving their homes.
As of Wednesday Bulgaria had seen nine deaths from the illness.
Parliamentary speaker Tsveta Karayancheva told an emergency briefing that all Bulgarian lawmakers are undergoing coronavirus tests on Wednesday after a member of parliament tested positive for the COVID-19 disease the day before.
The 240-member body is scheduled to hold a session on the 2020 budget revision on Thursday, but it was not immediately clear if the meeting would go ahead as planned.
Bulgaria revamped its fiscal plans to run a deficit of 2.9% of economic output this year and raised the ceiling on new debt it can raise to 10 billion levs ($5.6 billion) due to the coronavirus pandemic, the government said on Monday.
($1 = 1.7900 leva)
(Reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Jan Harvey)
