Covid-19 outbreak in Timisoara

A new Covid-19 outbreak was reported in Romania

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Daniela Budu, 07.03.2023, 14:00

After many months in which Romanians were no longer concerned about the coronavirus, Covid-19 infections are on the rise again in Romania, according to official data. A new outbreak was reported at a childrens hospital in Timișoara (west), the first in a long time, and now the hospital is under epidemiological surveillance. Most of those infected are patients, but also medical staff and relatives. The authorities have taken the necessary measures, and the spokesperson for the health unit says that the situation is under control. He stated that the hospital has the experience of two Covid outbreaks during the pandemic, when the situation was more severe.

Now back to the situation across the country, the National Institute of Public Health has announced that over 5,700 people tested positive for Covid-19 last week, and the number is more than double the one reported a month ago. In the past week, 32 related deaths were also recorded. In hospitals too, the number of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 is increasing. Currently, there are more than 1,200 people hospitalized in normal wards and about 150 in intensive care. Out of the public eye in recent months, anti-COVID vaccination carries on timidly.

All of last week, just over 500 people received a dose of the serum. Most were vaccinated with Pfizer Omicron, the vaccine adapted to the new strains of coronavirus, which has also been administered in Romania since the end of November last year. The authorities still recommend the anti-Covid vaccination, especially for people in risk categories, because, they say, vaccination reduces the risk of infection and transmission of the virus, and the risk of hospitalization and the risk of death are also considerably lower. Despite the authorities repeated appeals, in the more than two years since the vaccine has been available in Romania, less than half of the eligible population decided to get the shot, thats just over eight million people. And for more than three years, since cases of Covid appeared in Romania as well, more than 3.3 million people have been infected with the new coronavirus and about 68 thousand have lost their lives as a result of the infection.

In the meantime, the authorities in Bucharest are considering other health-related projects. The Senate, as the first notified chamber, adopted the bill regarding the patients right to personalized medicine. More exactly, personalized medicine means that patients suffering from the same disease will receive different treatments based on a specialists recommendation, after they are presented with the medical options, with the benefits and the expected risks. The bill will now go to the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making body in this matter. (MI)