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| - Bulgaria's streets were busy and in party mood late Thursday as nightclubs reopened again after a six-month closure, while elsewhere in Europe the nightlife remains shut to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. "Honestly, I can't believe I'm at a disco... it still seems like a dream to me!" Sabrina, 22, told AFP at one downtown Sofia nightclub. Although the EU member has seen one of Europe's highest death rates, the contamination rate has slowed. Nightclubs are restricted to half their capacity. At the entrance partygoers get temperature checks and can disinfect their hands. "I hope people are happy -- we missed them -- and they will have fun, which is the most important thing," the manager of the PM nightclub, Krastyo Entchev, told AFP amid flashing lights and thunderous music. Sporting make-up and bare shoulders, Gabriela, a 20-year-old student, said the epidemic did not worry her. "To a large extent I do not believe in the seriousness of the epidemic," she said. Others, like Yordan Kolev, a 34-year-old technician, said he would not stay "if it is crowded or not ventilated". Kolev said restrictions so far had often not been enforced. "The measures were only symbolic... After so many people suffered during the winter, I hope that we have become aware of the danger," he told AFP. The country of seven million people has recorded more than 403,700 cases with almost 16,400 deaths so far -- the third-highest death rate in the EU after Hungary and the Czech Republic, according to AFP data. Restaurants, cinemas and other recreation venues have remained largely open since the beginning of the pandemic amid safety measures, such as reduced capacity, in place. nd-vs/jza/spm
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