Parents stand outside a school in Sofia, Bulgaria, Sept. 15, 2021. Despite the severe COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria, all the 2,357 schools across the country opened their classrooms for the new school year. Photo: Xinhua

Bulgaria said Saturday that it was days away from sending coronavirus patients abroad as a fourth wave overwhelms its health system and forces neighboring Romania to ramp up restrictions.

Health Minister Stoycho Katsarov told the Nova TV channel that if the current rate of infections was not stemmed in 10 to 15 days there would be "enormous problems."

"Our capacity in terms of staff and ventilators has been practically exhausted, we will have to seek help from abroad," he said.

"Talks are underway with the EU to transfer patients to other countries if it comes to that."

Katsarov has also warned a lockdown cannot be ruled out.

Despite the introduction of a health pass for places such as restaurants and shopping centers, experts say the current wave could lead to infections leaping from around 5,000 a day to 9,000 a day in two weeks in the country of 6.9 million.

Bulgaria has suffered one of the world's highest death rates with the total standing at almost 23,000 people.

Over the past year Bulgaria has faced a protracted political crisis alongside the pandemic, with the third parliamentary election in 2021 due to take place in November.

Bulgaria and neighboring Romania together have the lowest vaccination rates in the EU, with low takeup blamed on the widespread circulation of conspiracy theories and mistrust of the authorities.

Only 24 percent of Bulgarians have been fully vaccinated while in Romania the figure is barely 33 percent.

Romania is bringing in harsher measures on Monday to try to bring infections under control.

The country of just over 19 million has now recorded in excess of 1.5 million cases, with more than 15,000 new infections recorded on Saturday.

AFP