Only one month and a few days after reopening for business indoors,
\nBucharest’s restaurants, cafes and bars had to close again Sunday midnight for
\nthe next 14 days, as the capital city saw its coronavirus infection rate hit 3
\ncases per 1,000 inhabitants in recent days. The spokeswoman for the Bucharest
\nprefecture Mariana Stancu explains:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
This activity is not allowed indoors. It is only allowed outdoors or on
\nterraces with no more than a roof, a ceiling and one wall, with tables located within
\nat least 2 metres of each other and with no more than six persons sitting at one
\ntable if they are from different households. Bars, clubs and discos are not
\nallowed to operate.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Unlike in similar situations in the past, pre-school and primary school children
\nwill continue to attend in-person classes in school, while final-year pupils
\nwill be attending a combination of remote and in-person learning. Cinemas, theatres,
\nperformance and music venues are also closed from Monday, and all outdoor
\ncultural activities are banned.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The western city of Timi\u015foara, where the infection rate has long since passed
\n6 cases per 1,000 inhabitants, as well as several villages in Timi\u015f county have
\ngone into lockdown for the next 14 days. A night-time curfew is in place, with
\nmovement only allowed for justified reasons and for work, with everyone having
\nto carry a written declaration stating the purpose and destination of travel.
\nSchools are also closed in these areas, shops have shorter working hours, with
\nthe exception of pharmacies and petrol stations, and church services can only be
\nheld outdoors. In this area, unlike in Bucharest, cafes and restaurants are
\nalso closed for business outdoors. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Timi\u015f county prefect Nemeth Laszlo says the lockdown was the last
\nresort, given that Timi\u015foara has been in the red scenario for many weeks:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
There are no more beds in intensive care in Timi\u015foara and we’re now
\ntrying to send our Covid patients to other counties or cities. This shows how
\nserious the situation is right now. Timi\u015foara has the highest infection rate in
\nthe country. We’ve had a surge in cases since mid January and this trend continues.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The mayor of Timi\u015foara Dominic Fritz has warned that not complying with
\nthe measures will affect everyone, by extending the lockdown or causing the
\nloss of human lives. Unhappy with the new restrictions imposed by the authorities
\nand a new draft legislation on mandatory vaccination which Parliament is
\ndebating, hundreds of people protested on Sunday in Timi\u015foara and in Bucharest,
\nwhile similar smaller scale protests took place in Oradea, in the north-west,
\nand in Sibiu, in the centre. (CM)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New restrictions and local lockdowns are imposed in some big cities and neighbouring villages amid high Covid infection rates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":87188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[35339,35342,40203,29645],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-88276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-coronavirus","tag-lockdown","tag-restriction","tag-timisoara"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n