Sofia, January 28 (BTA) - As of February 1 (Tuesday), the "red" zone will now include countries with a 14-day incidence of between 500 and 5,000 per 100,000 people, the press centre of the Ministry of Health said. Persons arriving from these countries wll be allowed to enter Bulgaria upon presentation of a valid EU digital COVID certificate for vaccination, previous ilness or test (PCR or antigen test) or equivalent/similar documents.

Bulgarian citizens and persons with the status of permanent or long-term residence and members of their families who do not present any of these documents will be placed under a 10-day quarantine, which can be lifted f the person presents a negative result from PCR or antigen test, adminodtered not earlier than 72 hours after arrival in the country.


The requirements for persons arriving from the "green" and "orange" zones remain unchanged.

A "dark red" zone is introduced in the list of countries. It includes countries with a 14-day incidence of more than 5,000 per 100,000 population. Persons from the "dark red" zone are allowed in this country upon presentation of a digital COVID certificate or similar document, along with a negative result from a PCR test conducted up to 72 hours before entering the country. Those who have an EU digital COVID certificate for vaccination with an additional (booster) dose or similar document are not required to present a negative PCR test result.

Bulgarian citizens and persons with the status of permanent or long-term residence and members of their families who do not present any of these documents will be placed under a 10-day quarantine.

Bulgarian citizens and persons with the status of permanent or long-term residence and members of their families, who present only one of the mentioned documents upon entering the country, will be placed under a 10-day quarantine, which can be revoked if the person presents a negative result of a PCR test performed no earlier than 72 hours after arrival in the country.

From February 1, the "dark red" zone will include Israel, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, Slovenia, France and others.

The full text of the order and the updated list of countries by color zones can be found on the website of the Ministry of Health.

The Ministry recalls that from February 1, according to European regulations, the digital certificate for completed vaccination coursewill be valid until the 270th day from the date of the end of the vaccination cycle. If a person has an expired certificate (ie 270 days have passed since the end of the vaccination cycle), they can travel with one of the other certificates - for past illness, for examination or for a booster. All citizens who have a certificate for a booster dose against COVID-19 can enter the country from any country in the world, regardless of the color zone in which the country falls, added the Ministry of Health. VE/DT