Big cities in the red scenario
More and more areas in Romania are entering the red epidemiological scenario.
Eugen Coroianu, 13.01.2022, 13:50
The incidence of COVID-19 cases in Bucharest, calculated at 14 days, has exceeded 3 cases per thousand inhabitants, which means that the capital has entered the red scenario. Consequently, restaurants and cafes can now operate at only up to 30% of their capacity, according to a decision adopted by the Local Committee for Emergency Situations. They will be open between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. Only the persons who are vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, for whom 10 days have elapsed since their full vaccination, those who present a negative result of an RT-PCR test not older than 72 hours or a certified negative result of a rapid antigen test not older than 48 hours are allowed in cafes and restaurants. The people between the 15th and 180th day after confirmation of infection with the novel coronavirus are also accepted in restaurants and cafes. Both the cities of Constanţa and Eforie, on the Romanian Black Sea Coast, have entered the same red scenario, with the same anti-epidemic measures being enforced for a period of 14 days.
The city of Deva and another 12 localities in Hunedoara County (west) are also in the red scenario due to the increase in the number of contaminations with the Omicron variant, which is already being transmitted at community level in Romania.
The head of the Arad Public Health Directorate, Dr. Horea Timiş, points out that the situation in Romania may be different from that in other countries: “The good news about the Omicron variant and the clinical phases is based on a mostly vaccinated population. Imagine that, in Romania, Omicron, whose incidence rate registers an exponential growth, which is already much faster than in any other EU country, is spreading to a mostly unvaccinated population. Therefore, the situation will not be as easy as in other countries. We are expecting the emergency call service 112 and the ambulance service to have a hard time trying to cope with the big number of cases. Indeed, many easy and moderate cases will be treated at home, and patients will be monitored by family doctors, but there’s the other side of the coin, namely the fact that there are not enough family doctors, which means that many patients will not be properly monitored. We have these assessment centers that will have to cope with a record number of patients in the future.”
The mayor of Cluj-Napoca (northwest) Emil Boc has launched an appeal to the population to get vaccinated and to respect the rules imposed by the authorities, the locality being already in the red scenario for two days. Similarly, Rădăuți (northeast) and the mountain resorts on the Prahova Valley (south) – Predeal, Sinaia and Azuga are also in the red scenario. (LS)
