Bulgarian restaurant workers protest rule

Thousands of SOFIA, BULGARIA — restaurant owners, chefs, waiters and bartenders took to the streets Thursday in cities across Bulgaria to protest the government’s decision to impose a mandatory COVID-19 health pass on all people seeking to enter indoor entertainment venues.

Restaurant and hospitality associations organized the protest, calling the health certificates “inadequate” and “discriminatory.” Restaurant associations claimed that in the first two days of the new requirement, restaurant attendance dropped 80% nationwide. Critics say the government introduced the requirement too quickly for people to prepare for it.

Bulgaria is facing a surge in COVID-19 infections and deaths amid one of the lowest vaccination rates in the 27-nation European Union. It has had the highest COVID-19 mortality rate in the bloc in the past two weeks and 94% of those deaths were unvaccinated people.

Still, protesters claimed that using the COVID-19 health pass will not solve the country’s outbreak but will only deepen its economic woes. They are demanding that antibody test results be accepted asa basis for such a certificate, that the government offer free tests and that all state and municipal workers be included in the “green certificate” system.

The head of the Association of Restaurants, Richard Alibegov, urged authorities to adopt measures that businesses would be able to comply with.

The Balkan country of 7 million reported 5,643 new COVID cases

154 more deaths on Thursday. In the capital of Sofia, protesters blocked a major intersection during rush hour.