Africa-Press – Eswatini. Amid increasing Omicron infection rates, the Bulgarian authorities have once again warned that travellers coming from the Member States and the United Kingdom that are found on the red category must present their vaccination or recovery certificate, in addition to a negative PCR test result, performed within 72 hours of departure in order to enter Bulgaria, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“Persons under item 4.3. are allowed on the territory of the country upon presentation of a valid EU digital COVID certificate for vaccination or recovery or a similar document, together with a negative result from a test performed up to 72 hours before entry into the country examination by the method of polymerase chain reaction for COVID- 19,” the press release issued by the Bulgarian Health Ministry explains, with item 4.3. including citizens of the European Union, the United Kingdom, and their family members.
The same further notes that Bulgarian citizens or permanent residents are required to present one of the required health certificates (vaccination, recovery, or PCR test) in order to be permitted in their home country or country of residence. If they fail to present such document, they must undergo a ten-day quarantine- with the possibility to reduce the isolation time if the PCR test taken three days after arrival is negative.
Unlike the several EU Member States that have abolished their colour-coded systems, the Bulgarian government continues to apply the practice, and from January 20, when this order enter force until March 31, arrivals from the red zone are required to present a vaccination, recovery, or test certificate, in order to enter the country. The negative test result must be a PCR test performed within three days of departure.
Countries found on Bulgaria’s red category include:
EU Member States: (except for Vatican City and Romania), the United Kingdom, Greenland, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Georgia, Faroe Islands
Asia: Mongolia, North Korea, Myanmar, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Oman, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Singapore, Brunei, Jordan, Bangladesh
Africa: Mozambique, Tanzania, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Seychelles, Zambia, Cape Verde
South America: Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Chile, Aruba, Cayman Islands, Sint Eustatius, Saba, Bolivia, Panama, Costa Rica, Saint Lucia, Uruguay, Suriname, Brazil, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Argentina,
North America: United States of America, Curacao, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Bermuda, Canada, British Virgin Islands,
Oceania: Fiji and Australia
Moreover, countries in the green zone at present are Vatican City and Romania, meaning that arrivals from these two countries can enter Bulgaria by only presenting one of the before-mentioned documents. The same rule applies to arrivals from the orange category, which includes countries that aren’t found on either of the previous lists.
At present, Bulgaria has one the lowest vaccination rates in the EU – about 41 per cent behind the average uptake of full vaccination in the EU Member States populations, which means that only 28.4 per cent of the seven million population is fully vaccinated.
The vaccination rates’ reflect on the number of positive cases in the country, as according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) data, 43,426 infection cases and 575 deaths have been recorded in the last week.
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