November 25 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's health minister Kostadin Angelov said that the government has approved an extension of the state of epidemic emergency introduced over the spread of COVID-19 pandemic until the end of January 2021 as well as a number of new restrictions.
The government will shut down all restaurants, gyms, shopping malls, and casinos, Angelov said during a press conference aired by public broadcaster BNT.
The measures also envisage the suspension of attendance at universities, schools, kindergartens and nurseries.
The measures will be imposed as of Friday and are expected to be eased as of December 21, Angelov added.
The health minister and members of the National Operational Headquarters, tasked with handling the coronavirus crisis, dismissed questions from several journalists regarding the concrete effect on the coronavirus infection and death rate, which the measures target.
On Wednesday, the health ministry reported 4,382 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total up to 129,348 of which 86,020 active.
Earlier on Wednesday, prime minister Boyko Borissov said that the businesses affected by the new measures will be compensated through measures worth nearly 400 million levs ($244 million/205 million euro).
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)