Health authorities in Bulgaria are warning of a new wave of COVID-19, with the peak expected toward the end of September, according to the National Center for Communicable and Parasitic Diseases (NCPD). Current data show that infections are rising by about 30% each week, and projections suggest that the number of cases will double in the coming weeks.
Epidemiologist Prof. Todor Kantardzhiev, former director of the NCPD, told Lege Artis that at present there are 128 active Covid-19 cases in the country – seven more compared to last week. Since the start of the year, Bulgaria has registered 810 cases in total, a figure ten times lower than during the same period in 2024.
Kantardzhiev referred to a September 5 analysis by the European Center for Disease Control in Stockholm, which confirmed that hospital emergency visits and Covid-related deaths are not exceeding last year’s levels. “The situation is not as alarming as it is sometimes portrayed,” he stressed, adding that the pattern since the pandemic’s end shows seasonal increases in early spring and late autumn.
The European Center also found no evidence of new or more dangerous variants of the virus that could undermine vaccine protection or cause more severe illness. “Medically, the situation remains under control,” Kantardzhiev noted.
Still, he advised people with weakened immune systems, older adults, and those suffering from chronic lung conditions to consider prophylactic revaccination in consultation with their doctors.
Most current infections are short-lived and mild. Many patients seek medical care for acute throat pain, often localized on one side. Kantardzhiev recommended simple remedies, such as lemon with baking soda, as a quick relief method. If neglected, however, the infection could spread, affecting other organs, since respiratory illnesses typically begin in the upper airways and may progress to the lungs.
Although COVID-19 can still cause pneumonia, Kantardzhiev emphasized that the clinical picture has changed significantly since the first wave. “These are not the symptoms we saw four years ago, when by the tenth day after infection we often feared severe complications,” he explained.
Source: BNR