Big cities in lockdown

The Romanian authorities are taking new measures to limit the surge in COVID-19 cases.

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Leyla Cheamil, 12.11.2020, 14:00

After months of stress and restrictions, the new coronavirus continues to wreak havoc around the world, turning everything upside down and strongly impacting people’s lives. Protective masks, physical distancing, stricter hygiene rules, restricted travel alongside the acceleration of the digitalization process or the implementation of teleworking systems are some of the effects of the pandemic. Since the onset of the new coronavirus pandemic, fear of this virus has been alarmingly growing, given that it spreads quite fast. Scientists are racing against the clock to find a vaccine to protect the people against the new danger.

Meanwhile, state authorities are taking measures to curb, as much as possible, the spread of the infection. Many countries have again instated new restrictions, given that the number of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 has started to grow again, and experts believe that the second wave of the pandemic might be more severe than the first. In Romania, more and more localities are asking for a lockdown, so as to be able to deal with the big number of COVID-19 cases.

As of Wednesday, the city of Baia Mare (northwest) was placed in total lockdown for 14 days, the situation being serious in many other cities. Half of Romania’s territory has exceeded 3 cases of coronavirus contamination per one thousand inhabitants in the past 2 weeks. The highest infection rate has been reported in Sibiu county (center) which reports more than 7 cases per one thousand inhabitants while the city of Sibiu has exceeded 11 cases per thousand. According to the Sibiu authorities, lockdown is one of the options and public health experts are going to find the best ways to manage this unhappy situation. Friday will see a new meeting of the Sibiu County Committee for Emergency Situations which will also be attended by the head of the Department for Emergency Situations Raed Arafat. They are going to decide whether zonal lockdown will be instated or not in Sibiu and another 3 localities. In Sibiu country there is a great number of COVID-19 cases, hospitals are overcrowded while ICUs are packed with no free beds.

The surge in the number of COVID-19 cases puts increased pressure on the medical staff, who put their lives at risk to save the patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Since the emergence of the new coronavirus in Romania, many doctors, nurses, ambulance workers and orderlies have tested positive for the new coronavirus, and some of them have unfortunately died. (tr. L. Simion)