Possibility for a nation-wide vacation because of the flu

It is not unlikely that the country may declare a nation-wide flu vacation by the end of this week, Health Minister, Bozhidar Nanev, said at a press conference yesterday. He specified that no epidemic had been declared in the country yet. For that to happen, the morbidity rate should be 200 per 10,000 people. For the time being it is 132 per 10,000, which means that 100,000 people are ill at present. Nanev explained that the morbidity rate, registered in the country, was comparable to that of previous years. At a Council of Ministers meeting he acquainted the Government with the epidemic situation in the country. Flu epidemic has been already declared in several regions – Gabrovo, Burgas, Yambol, Silistra and Stara Zagora, and in the municipalities of Nikopol, Varna, Shumen, Samokov, Vratza, Lovech and Targovishte.
“Between 2,500 and 3,000 people die from influenza annually when there is epidemic”, Nanev pointed out. He added that five people had been killed by the new A (H1N1) virus in Bulgaria so far, and there were five more heavier cases that were under medical treatment. Nanev reported the fifth death toll from of the new virus – a 30-year-old man who did not seek medical help, but tried to cure himself at home.