The day in 3 news: Green certificates after first vaccine dose; Poll: Incumbent President Radev has 51.2% of votes; Bulgarian supercomputer ready for action

The day in 3 news: Green certificates after first vaccine dose; Poll: Incumbent President Radev has 51.2% of votes; Bulgarian supercomputer ready for action

© Георги Кожухаров


Thursday came and the new COVID-19 measures, which necessitate a green certificate for indoor venues, came into force.This provoked chaos as many employees at shopping centers had to test themselves before work and pay for an antigen COVID-19 test. Many restaurants also chose not to vet their visitors for certificates. At the same time, many people queued up at vaccination spots. The restrictions, first announced on Tuesday, were amended yesterday to revise upwards the age of people who need a green certificate. And today saw further amendments to the rules.

Green certificates after the first dose

Health Minister Stoycho Katsarov said a green certificate may be given not only to the double jabbed but also to those who have only had a first dose. This would be sanctioned by revising the Health Ministry's order tomorrow. Katsarov added that those who had undergone Covid in the past 12 months could also have a green certificate. Previously, it was valid only for those who had it in the last six months. Katsarov stressed that people who have antibodies could not acquire the document because "the science does not recognize the antibody test as a document certifying that somebody had been infected and cured of coronavirus".

Gallup: President Radev heading for first round victory

If the presidential and vice-presidential election had taken place last Sunday, 51.2% of voters would have voted for incumbent president Rumen Radev, 22.5% for ex-ruling party GERB's candidature Atanas Gerdjikov, 7.9% for Mustafa Karadaja from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), and 6.2% for Democratic Bulgaria's candidate Lozan Panov. These figures come from Gallup polling agency. The agency notes that the survey was conducted before the announcement of the new COVID-19 measures which could affect attitudes towards the caretaker cabinet because it is associated with acting President Rumen Radev.

Bulgarian supercomputer Discover is ready for action

The Bulgarian supercomputer Discoverer officially went into operation at the Sofia Tech Park (STP), announced the STP's Supervisory Board Chairman Peter Statev. The supercomputer has achieved performance of 4.5 Petaflops (one petaflop is one million billion calculations per second) and its peak performance is 6 Petaflops. Discoverer has been ranked No. 91 in the top 500 chart of the world's highest-performing machines.

"What took 365 days to accomplish can now be done in 20 days thanks to the Discoverer. We are making sure that the capacity of the supercomputer is useful for our industry", said European Innovation Commissioner Mariya Gabriel. She added that the ultimate goal is to connect industries, laboratories and universities to avoid multiple public investments aimed at the same outcome.

Thursday came and the new COVID-19 measures, which necessitate a green certificate for indoor venues, came into force.This provoked chaos as many employees at shopping centers had to test themselves before work and pay for an antigen COVID-19 test. Many restaurants also chose not to vet their visitors for certificates. At the same time, many people queued up at vaccination spots. The restrictions, first announced on Tuesday, were amended yesterday to revise upwards the age of people who need a green certificate. And today saw further amendments to the rules.

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