Bulgaria suffering 2nd highest COVID-19 death rate in EU as health system overwhelmed

SOFIA - Bulgaria is suffering the second highest COVID-19 death rate in the European Union (EU), at 27.3 per 100,000 inhabitants over 14 days, showed official data from the bloc on Sunday, while the country's health system is already on the brink of collapse.

"The (health) system is overwhelmed and that's why such incidents occur," said Katya Sungarska, a spokesperson for the Center for Emergency Medical Services in the country's capital city here, adding that the system "cannot respond the way it should."

She said Sofia should have 80 emergency teams to cover the population adequately. However, the number now stands at 15-17 for each 12-hour shift.

Bulgaria recorded 2,037 new cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 160,844, according to data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

What's more, its infections and deaths have more than doubled in the last three weeks, and in the last week of November alone, it has reported over 20,000 new cases, according to the disease prevention center.

In a bid to stop the upward trend, the Balkan country last week extended social restrictions until Dec 21, and the nationwide epidemic emergency until Jan 31, 2021.

Across Europe, Bulgaria is preceded by Slovenia in terms of mortality rate, with the latter reporting the highest rate of COVID-19 deaths, at 28.2 per 100,000 over the past 14 days.