Bans around the world

Bulgaria’s Health Minister announced that all travel to and from Sofia will be banned until further notice, after a surge in COVID-19 virus infections in the capital city.

According to the minister, all travel to and from Sofia, home to some two million people, is banned, effective immediately, except for cargo transport and people who have to travel to go to work, or for hospital treatment. The Balkan country had already restricted non-essential inter-city travel in March, but measures were tightened after over 5,000 cars tried to leave Sofia ahead of the Easter holidays.

Meanwhile, Japan has officially extended its state of emergency nationwide.The original month-long state of emergency covering seven regions is now expanded to all prefectures, following criticism of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s response to the pandemic.

Polls have shown people thought the PM left it too long before imposing the original state of emergency. The state of emergency will be in effect until May 6.

MMP
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