The European Commission is mobilising assistance to help Romania cope with the surge in COVID-19 cases
The European Commission is mobilising assistance in order to help Romania treat a growing number of COVID-19 patients, after Bucharest has made a call for support. By means of the European Civil Protection Mechanism, the European block has already sent 250 oxygen concentrators to the country, as well as 5,200 vials of monoclonal antibodies. Other help is set to come soon, the European commissioner for crisis management, Janez Lenarčič has said. He reminded that Romania was a very active member of the civil protection group and has offered asistance to other countries through the pandemic.
Romania’s National Committee for Emergency Situations has rejected lockdown proposals for Bucharest and the county of Ilfov
The technical and scientific group inside the Romanian National Committeee for Emergencies has rejected a proposal made by the National Public Health Institute (INSP) to declare a lockdown in the capital Bucharest and in the surrounding county of Ilfov. The head of the Department for Emergency Situations, Raed Arafat, has said that the decision to avoid a lockdown in Bucharest and Ilfov is to be submitted to the prime minister, along with measures to enforce the current control measures, as well as to implement new verification measures that INSP would come up with.
Updated COVID-19 tally in Romania
Romania has reported 15,828 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, out of almost 68,000 tests performed in the last 24 hours. Most new infections are in Bucharest, with 3,123 cases. The capital is followed by the county of Iasi, with 1,150 new cases and Constanta with 848. Authorities also announced 365 deaths, and 1,729 patients are admitted in Intensive Care. The country no longer has free beds to admit new COVID-19 patients in Intensive Case Units.
Mădălina Brotăcel, RADOR
