Covid-19 on a downward trend in Romania

According to authorities in Bucharest, the number of Covid-19 infections is going down in Romania. State Secretary with the Healthcare Ministry, epidemiologist Adriana Pistol said that 39 thousand new infections were reported last week, 13 thousand less than in the previous period of time. This downward tendency is visible now and will become more clearly visible next week. Here is epidemiologist Adriana Pistol.

Adriana Pistol: "Between August 8th and 14th the number of infections was considerably lower than a week before. So, obviously the number of infections is on a downward trend. This is also visible in the number of related fatalities, which was also lower than in the previous week. This is the situation now, but as people come back from holidays and the school year is to begin soon, we may expect the number of infections to rise again."

 Until next month when school is to resume, face covering remains an effective way to avoid the disease, state secretary Adriana Pistol went on to say.

Adriana Pistol: "We have seen people who are wearing masks in public transport vehicles and supermarkets; we thank them and encourage them to continue to do so. We believe such a behavior has largely contributed to this downward trend because the virus is airborne and this is the right method to avoid contamination and protect the others."

36 hundred new infections were announced on Tuesday, lower than a week ago, while 4 thousand patients were being treated in hospitals around the country.

Authorities say the Omicron variant was responsible for most of the infections last week. BA2 has been identified in 39% of the cases, while BA5 in 16%. We recall that Romania lifted all restrictions on March 9th. Romanian Healthcare Minister Alexandru Rafila announced back then that mask mandates in indoor and outdoor spaces had been lifted. Covid and travel certificates ceased to be mandatory in Romania, a country, which had been in a state of medical alert for almost 2 years. According to official data, 3.1 million infections have so far been reported as well as 66 thousand related fatalities, mainly among people above 60.

(bill)