Romanian hospitals, in deep crisis
The fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic has hit Romania very hard. While in other countries, intensive care units are almost empty, the Romanian healthcare system is completely overwhelmed
Ştefan Stoica, 20.10.2021, 14:00
Romania risks becoming a case study. In spite of having received, on time, enough Covid-vaccines to immunize its citizens, most of these vaccines remained used, expired, were sold or donated and the country finds itself now in a dramatic situation due to the huge number of infections. Negative records have been reported in terms of number of deaths, daily infections and patients in critical condition. The interim Health Minister, Cseke Attila, has warned that the medical system is under huge pressure and that the fourth wave has not yet reached its peak in Romania.
Cseke Attila:”With such vaccination rate, and in spite of the fact that this fourth wave will pass, it has not reached its peak yet. There have been many talks and forecasts. Unfortunately, we have not even reached a plateau yet. The number of infections is growing every day, so we cannot hope for a plateau of several days or weeks, followed by a decrease in the number of infections. The pressure on the healthcare system is huge, and the system has its limits. ”
There is no more room in hospitals for severely ill patients, most of them unvaccinated, and this situation forces the medical staff to improvise. Manager of the Marius Nasta Institute in Bucharest, Beatrice Mahler tells us more about it:”The situation is very serious and it has been like that for the past two weeks, with gravely ill patients treated on the hallways, because we simply don t have any room left. Many Covid-patients with severe forms of the disease reach hospitals when their oxygen level is already very low.”
Preparations for the fourth wave of the epidemic were not thorough and the Covid mass vaccination campaign was too slow, President Klaus Iohannis said Tuesday. The president himself has been criticised for inaction at a time that required total involvement and quick action. Klaus Iohannis:”It is a time of sufferance, a national drama of huge proportion. We have no choice but to overcome it. Our zero priority at this moment ist o save people, protect the vulnerable and the ill, who can be helped to recover through medical assistance. ”
Vaccination is the only solution to put an end to the pandemic, Iohannis said. He also said that Parliament must pass by emergency procedure decisions regarding the green certificate or other measures that should reduce mobility and human interaction for the short term.
In the context of an alarming increase in daily infections, Romanians who have been reluctant to vaccination are now heading toward immunization centres. But this is not enough. The vaccination campaign remains a failure. If authorities, instead of fully lifting restrictions in summer had eased them progressively, in keeping with the pace of immunization, Romania would have avoided the major health crisis it faces at present. (EE)
