He will inspect medical establishments in person to make sure that the orders are followed

New ambulances will be provided for Sofia's emergency medical service, Health Minister Kostadin Angelov said on Monday. Medical teams were buffed up in the beginning of September, but the main problem this week is the difficult admission in medical establishments.

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''Hospitals have not done their job in making sure to provide enough beds. I have been a Minister since July 24, I issued an order for designated beds in all medical institutions and if they had been made available the way it was outlined in the order, there would not have been a problem,'' Angelov said.

There are currently 25 ambulances on daily duty at Sofia's emergency medical service, with the Interior Ministry providing ten additional vehicles (six ambulances and four vans). They each have a trained paramedic. On Wednesday, the emergency medical service will receive 17 additional new and equipped ambulances, the Minister said.



There are still hospitals that have not made available beds for treating coronavirus patients, said Minister Angelov and noted that he would personally inspect medical establishments to make sure that his orders were followed. In Sofia, designated coronavirus beds currently total around 600, while this number could be brought up to around 1,200, he said.

Inspections of private and public laboratories are also being carried out, as there are issues with the publication of test results in the information system. ''There are paradoxes with conducting a test today, publishing its result in 2-3 days, and when the doctor has to issue a sick leave, it turns out that the person is healthy, but is about to be quarantined,'' said Minister Angelov.

The full extent of the law will be applied to those who do not follow the rules, he stressed.

Minister Angelov added that there is currently no need to open field hospitals. When the bed occupancy in the system exceeds 40 per cent, alternatives will be considered, he explained.