Romania, ready to face a coronavirus epidemic
Bucharest authorities say the odds are slim the coronavirus should spread to Romania, and that diagnosis and treatment measures are already in place
Leyla Cheamil, 03.02.2020, 14:00
Hundreds of people have been killed in China by the new coronavirus, and the first casualty outside China has been reported in the Philippines. Over 17,000 people have been infected by the virus that was first reported in Wuhan in December and which continues to spread all over the world with disturbing speed. With the exception of Hong Kong and Macao, the virus has killed more people than the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (known as SARS), which killed 349 people over 2002-2003. Romania has taken additional measures to monitor and prevent the virus from spreading. The announcement came at the end of a crisis meeting summoned by Interior Minister Marcel Vela, also attended by the Health Minister Victor Costache. The Government has drafted an emergency decree aimed at boosting the countrys response capacity in the case of a coronavirus outbreak in Europe. The Government will buy special protection and isolation gear and will increase the number of medical staff on international airports. The Henri Coanda International Airport in Otopeni has already implemented special processing procedures for arrivals from China. Additional medical staff will be assigned to border crossings. Marcel Vela.
“Individual protection equipment, negative pressure isolation rooms, negative pressure isolation stretchers, cardiorespiratory support kits made up of ventilator, monitor and four syringe infusion pumps, disinfectants and isolation equipment filters”.
The good news is no case has so far been reported in Romania and neighboring states, and the authorities want to be thorough regarding preparations. Health Minister Victor Costache pointed out all these measures are pre-emptive, aimed at boosting the response capacity in case the virus spreads to Europe, therefore Romanians have no reason to panic. At the same time the Romanian official says all the necessary measures to diagnose and treat the virus have been taken in three infectious disease centers.
“At national level, the Matei Bals Institute has the capacity to diagnose any suspected case of coronavirus. Another two institutes in the country, in Iasi and in Cluj, will receive 100 coronavirus kits”.
Last week the WHO called a global epidemic in the case of the coronavirus outbreak in China.
(Translated by V. Palcu)
