Sofia, Aug 26 (IANS): The Bulgarian government has extended the national emergency imposed due to Covid-19 by three months until November 30.

"The spread of Covid-19 in the country marks the beginning of a new, fourth pandemic wave," the cabinet said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

"The prolongation of the emergency epidemic situation and the implementation of anti-epidemic measures in the country aims to reduce the impact of Covid-19 on public health, taking into account the real risk of spreading various SARS-CoV-2 variants in Bulgaria," it added.

The statement also said that only 20.1 per cent of the adult population in Bulgaria have already received the first vaccine dose, while 18.2 per cent have been fully vaccinated, reports Xinhua news agency.

A total of 445,097 confirmed Covid-19 cases with 18,565 deaths have been registered in Bulgaria since the onset of the pandemic early last year, of which 1,911 cases and 33 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours, according to the country's health authorities.

Meanwhile, the number of active cases and hospitalisations rose to 23,814 and 2,873 respectively, the highest figures in three months.

The emergency was initially declared on May 14 last year with a duration of one month, replacing the state of emergency implemented on March 13.

It has already been extended several times, most recently to the end of August.