The number of patients infected with Covid-19 in
Romania is alarmingly increasing by the day. A new all-time high was registered
on Wednesday then authorities announced over 43 thousand new cases, 5 thousand
in Bucharest alone, the highest number of infections since the beginning of the
pandemic. New record highs have been reported in other counties as well.
According to Health Minister Alexandru Rafila,
the high number of infections was expected and there are no reasons for people
to panic. Rafila says that it has been for the first time when a large number
of tests have been done in 24 hours.
Alexandru
Rafila: Roughly 110 thousand tests have been carried out allowing us to assess
the evolution generated by the Omicron variant, which is more transmissible
than the previous variants. We continue to have severe cases caused by the
Delta variant, which is still present in Romania, where it accounts for 20-25%
of those infected, most of them being presently tre
TALKS US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday said he would continue his dialogue with Moscow but called on Russia to pull out the troops it deployed to the border with Ukraine. After the talks with his Russian counterpart Serghei Lavrov, which he described as a candid exchange of concerns and ideas Blinken said that next week Washington would present Moscow with ideas under the form of written responses. In turn, Lavrov has confirmed the USA has pledged written responses to Moscow's requests concerning the European security architecture. Romania's president Klaus Iohannis on Thursday hailed the announcement made by his US counterpart Joe Biden over an increased US military presence in Romania, if security would get deteriorated. Iohannis has also added that the strategic Romanian-French partnership will be strengthened in the Black Sea area after the announcement made by his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that France is ready to send troops to Romania as p
In the context of the rapid spread of the Omicron strain of the novel coronavirus, which is transmitted much more easily, wearing a protective mask becomes mandatory again, as of Saturday, in all enclosed and open spaces in Romania, as the state of alert has been extended by the Government. Furthermore, the use of textile or plastic masks is no longer permitted due to their very low efficiency. Doctor Valeriu Gheorghiţă drew attention to the wrong way in which people often wear the protective mask, without adequately covering the nose and mouth.
Valeriu Gheorghiţă: “Besides this recommendation to use a medical mask, I would suggest that people should use the mask correctly, because good masks are useless if people do not use them correctly. The three-layer surgical masks should be replaced every four hours. FFP2 masks can be worn for a longer period because they have a much more rigorous filtration”.
Besides the obligation to wear a protective
Romanian authorities are getting ready for the 5th wave of the coronavirus pandemic, which according to some estimates may cause up to one million active infection cases.
The first measure is to reintroduce compulsory face covering both outdoors and indoors, as the head of the Department for Emergency Situations Raed Arafat announced. The measure concerns surgical masks or FFP2 masks, which provide better protection, and eliminates cloth masks, which are inefficient with the Omicron variant.
Raed Arafat also announced that other restrictions will be reintroduced, depending on the case frequency. A decision made by the National Committee on Emergency Situations on Wednesday introduces a 30% of capacity ceiling for concerts and cinema halls in places with more than one case per thousand people, and a similar ceiling for restaurants in places with frequency rates above 3 per thousand.
Arafat added that access will remain conditional on the
One year since the vaccine roll-out began,
Romania has the second lowest vaccination rate in the European Union. Almost
7.8 million people are fully vaccinated, accounting for a little over 40% of the
country s total population and 44% of its eligible population. Almost 2 million
people have had their booster shot. The pace of vaccination is again slowing
down, having only picked up during short periods of enthusiasm or fear. The authorities
and public health experts are expecting a new wave of the pandemic in January caused
by the spread of the Omicron variant following holiday travel, with many
Romanians living abroad coming back for the winter holidays. Hospitals are
already preparing for a difficult period, which is expected to peak in February
and March. The manager of the Marius Nasta Institute of Pneumology in
Bucharest, Beatrice Mahler, explains:
We re expecting a difficult period
for the healthcare system. Not just because we have a low vaccination rate, bu