From a state of emergency to a state of alert

The state of emergency introduced on March 16 in Romania will be replaced by a state of alert on May 15

Leyla Cheamil, 05.05.2020, 14:00

In mid-May there will be 2 months since the president of Romania Klaus Iohannis introduced a state of emergency to prevent the spread of the SARS CoV-2 virus. This entailed restrictions on fundamental citizen rights, such as the freedom of movement.

On Monday, the head of state made a new announcement: as of May 15, Romania will switch from a state of emergency to a state of alert. The latter is a prevention plan regarding the immediate implementation of prevention measures and actions, public warning and mitigation of the effects of the state of emergency.

The measures must be proportionate to the situations that have caused them, and will be enforced within the limits of the law.

The president warned that the situation has not yet improved. ‘We cannot say that the disease is over, but at some point we have to move on, and this takes the form of this switch to a state of alert, the president explained. He added that the state of emergency measures will be lifted step by step, at intervals of about 2 weeks.

As of May 15, life will gradually return to normal. In a first stage, hairdressers and barbers shops will be opened, along with dentist practices and museums, and people will be allowed to leave their homes within their home towns or villages without a sworn statement regarding the purposes of traveling. However, restrictions remain in place as regards travelling outside the home locality.

Klaus Iohannis: “As of May 15, beauty salons, dentist practices and museums will be opened, but all of them will apply special distancing and hygiene measures. We will all wear face masks when inside public areas and when using public transportation. Travel outside the home locality will be restricted. There are, however, a number of exceptions. One may leave ones home town or village, for instance, for work, for healthcare purposes, for individual sports activities, for biking.

Klaus Iohannis added that professional athletes will be able to begin training under special conditions, but competitions will only be allowed after a sufficient preparation period. He also emphasised that, under a state of alert, meetings of more than 3 people remain forbidden.

The president has once again called for responsibility. “There is no telling how long this epidemic will last, and it is up to us to keep it under control here in Romania. I would very much like for all of us, together, to manage to control it, and this means compliance with the instructions of the authorities, Iohannis concluded.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)