Covid-19: negative records
Romania sees growing numbers of coronavirus infections
Leyla Cheamil, 01.10.2021, 13:50
The coronavirus epidemic breaks new negative records in Romania. On Thursday, over 12,000 new cases were reported in the country, only 2 days after a previous record-high level. 176 COVID-related fatalities were also reported, most of them among unvaccinated patients.
The number of hospital admissions is on the rise as well. Over 12,000 patients were in hospitals on Thursday, 5,000 more than a week ago. The situation in intensive care units is complicated, because there are few places left.
The National Committee for Emergency Situations updated the list of high risk countries, which now includes Romania as well as Moldova, Bulgaria, Armenia, Belarus and Greenland. However, the Committee decided that drivers of freight and passenger vehicles are not bound to isolate if they test negative for the virus.
Meanwhile, the recent developments gave fresh impetus to the vaccination programme in Romania. In several counties, this week saw people queuing in vaccination centres, especially since people were able to get their third vaccine doses as of this Tuesday.
“We must all make an effort, if we are to control this pandemic, and the only way in which we can do this is to get vaccinated. Four types of vaccine are available in Romania, they are safe, efficient, easy to tolerate, the vaccination process is easy, accessibility is high, the coordinator of the national vaccination campaign, Valeriu Gheorghiță, pointed out.
Gheorghiță emphasised recently that the benefits are huge, and the losses hard to quantify at the moment, but at this point the research shows that the long-term impact is significant. “More and more voices say we will have to get used to living with this virus. My view is that we mustnt get used to living under these circumstances, with hospitals filled with patients and ICUs overcrowded and people losing their lives every day to this disease,ˮ Valeriu Gheorghiță said.
To encourage the vaccination campaign, the authorities are now organising a Vaccination Lottery. The Health Ministry announced that any fully vaccinated person may take part, and that the total prizes amount to some 3 million euro. (tr. A.M. Popescu)
