Global health

New evidence that raccoon dogs were at the Chinese market where COVID is suspected to have first infected humans has reignited debate over the origin of the pandemic.

North Macedonia's parliament has adopted a legislative amendment to pardon people facing imprisonment for violating Covid-19 safety rules.

Lawmakers late Monday voted 76-1 in favor of the amnesty which will affect more than 200 people currently facing trial as well as more than 90 people reportedly serving prison sentences.

The latest data published by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) have raised many eyebrows as the figure officially declared during the COVID-19 pandemic period in 2021 does not match, with the new data revealing 128,000 unexplained deaths, a journalist from the daily Hürriyet has stated.

The recent rash of acts of violence against hospital staff tells us that the medics who work in Greece's National Health System (ESY) - the same people who were hailed as heroes during the pandemic - are falling victim once more to the failings of the system.

With 1,787 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, Bulgaria has the highest mortality rate in the EU in 2020, reported the European Union's statistical agency Eurostat.

Bulgaria is followed by Romania (1,622), Hungary (1,513), Lithuania (1,482) and Latvia (1,445).

Three years ago, Balkan countries were hit by a pandemic which cost many lives and created social disorders. But while it was a time of isolation for many, authors drew inspiration from the disaster.

When the New York Youth Symphony recorded its debut album during the pandemic's dark early days, violinist Jessica Jeon was just 12 years old.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that COVID-19 remains a public health emergency of international concern, its highest form of alert, Reuters reported.

The pandemic is likely at a "transitional moment" that continues to need careful management to "mitigate potential negative consequences," the organization added in a statement.

In the last 24 hours, 20 new cases of COVID-19 were registered in Bulgaria after 728 tests were performed, the Unified Information Portal reported.

The proportion of positive tests is 2.7%.

In the last 24 hours, there have been no deaths from the pandemic in Bulgaria.

There are no new hospital admissions with a diagnosis of coronavirus.

The new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Bulgaria in the last 24 hours are 129, according to the data of the Unified Information Portal. They were established from the 3,685 tests performed, which means that the proportion of positive results is 3.5 percent.