The situation
\ngenerated by the new coronavirus is, for the moment, under control in Romania.
\nThe number of cases is low and announcements of new cases come relatively
\nsporadically. In an interview to the central press, the president of the
\nRomanian Society of Microbiology Alexandru Rafila warns, however, that without
\nextra caution, any country may be faced with an unwanted spiral of new cases
\nlike in Italy. He says the spread of the new virus can take place in three
\nways: by import, as is the case for the time being in Romania, by local
\ntransmission and by wider community transmission, when the person spreading the
\nvirus doesn’t show the symptoms and when the authorities can no longer control
\nits transmission. This is why it’s important that, apart from the coercive
\nmeasures taken by the authorities, citizens themselves should be aware that
\nthey have an immense responsibility and therefore must strictly observe the
\nrecommendations made or endanger those around them, including their families. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Under the
\ncircumstances, the authorities in Bucharest have banned by the end of the month
\nall public and private events in open or closed spaces gathering more than
\n1,000 people. The measure is enforceable around the country and is not subject
\nto negotiation or exemption. As a result, football matches will be taking place
\nwithout spectators and many cultural events have been postponed. Events
\ngathering under 1,000 people may take place only after obtaining the approval
\nof the local public health authorities. The Bucharest metro, which is used by
\nmore than 600,000 people every day, has increased the number of trains,
\nreducing waiting time, and will disinfect carriages every 12 hours. Also,
\nposters with information about the new coronavirus and recommended prevention
\nmeasures are to be found in the metro and on the platforms. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The authorities
\nhave also recommended the Romanians living abroad in the regions most affected
\nby the virus not to return to Romania. Raed Arafat, a state secretary in the
\ninterior ministry has explained why:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
If they are in
\nthe affected regions, by coming here to visit their parents and grandparents
\nthey risk transmitting the virus to these people and endanger their lives. So
\nwe recommend avoiding and reducing as much as possible travelling to Romania
\nfrom the most affected areas.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Moreover, Romania
\nhas decided to cancel all flights to and from Italy for two weeks, given that
\nItaly is home to the biggest Romanian community abroad. The interior minister
\nMarcel Vela:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We have
\napproved the suspension of flights by passenger airlines to and from Italy on
\nall airports in Romania, from 9th March at 12 pm Romania time until
\n23rd March at 12 pm Romania time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Airlines are
\nalso obliged to inform passengers travelling to Romania with layovers from
\nItaly, China, Iran and South Korea that they will be quarantined when they
\narrive in Romania and present them with a statement which they have to fill in
\nwhen they get on board. Persons coming from these four countries and arriving
\nby road will also be quarantined or asked to self-isolate at home. People who
\ndo not comply with the isolation requests to prevent the spread of the new
\ncoronavirus may be fined the equivalent in lei of 4,000 euros. Also, persons
\narriving in Romania and who do not accurately state the country they come from
\nface criminal charges for making false statements. (CM)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Romanian authorities take drastic prevention measures amid alarming rise in coronavirus cases in Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":84923,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[35339],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-84922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-coronavirus"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n