Vidin

The fourth wave of Covid-19 continues to disrupt our rhythm of life. On Monday, Bulgaria's caretaker Minister of Education and Science Professor Nikolay Denkov told journalists that since the beginning of the new school year, the number of quarantined teachers increased twofold and that the number of students placed under quarantine saw a fourfold increase.

Seven million vehicles have crossed the Vidin-Calafat bridge in the two directions between Bulgaria and Romania since the facility was commissioned in June 2013, Lyudmil Dimitrov, the new Executive Director of the joint Bulgarian-Romanian company which operates the bridge, said in a BTA interview.

On average, six unemployed people are competing for one vacancy - according to the latest Employment Agency figures as of the end of February 2021.

In 17 regions the unemployment rate is above the national average, with the highest values recorded in northwestern Bulgaria - Vidin, Montana and Vratsa.

The truck traffic is heavy at the exit checkpoints on the Bulgarian border with Romania (Vidin BCP) and Turkey (Lesovo BCP), Border Police reports.

After new restrictive measure for mandatory Coronavirus tests was introduced kilometer-long lines of trucks have formed at the Kulata-Promahon border crossing since yesterday afternoon.  

Only 8 new cases of coronavirus were proven for the day, 3 of them were admitted to hospital.

They were found in the districts of Sofia (5 cases), Vidin (1 case), Pazardzhik (2 cases).

The most infected so far are in Sofia - 1043 people. The tests performed were 1725. The total number of infected is 2485.

Vidin in Bulgaria's economically depressed north-west has seen a rise in recent COVID-19 cases, with the local hospital and a Roma neighbourhood being the worst affected.

A 48-year-old Bulgarian with suspected coronavirus infection has died in Spain, according to the local newspaper.

After complications, he was hospitalized in Villajoyosa Hospital, Alicante Province, but the doctors lost the battle for his life.

Ogynyan Nenchev has spent the last 15 years trying to escape Vidin, a province in the north-western tip of Bulgaria. Six times he went in search of a better life, six times he came back. His decision to keep returning to the poorest corner of the poorest country of the European Union was unusual. His desire to leave was not.

Classes in 1,477 schools in 16 Bulgaria's regions have been suspended over flu absences. The classes are expected to resume on 10 February, said the press office of the Ministry of Education and Science.

Classes in 7 districts were partially suspended.

School have been reopened in the regions of Burgas, Vidin, Kyustendil, Sofia City and Haskovo.

The traffic at the border checkpoints with Turkey and Romania is intensive. Many trucks are waiting to leave the country, the Interior Ministry press center reported.