Record high number of Covid infections in Romania

Romania has reported more than 11 thousand new Covid-19 infections, the largest number since the onset of the pandemic.

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Leyla Cheamil, 29.09.2021, 14:00

Romania has reported a worrying number of new Covid 19 infections — over 11 thousand, thus setting an unwanted record since the start of the pandemic. The number of related deaths has also gone up to more than 200 and that of patients treated in hospitals to over 11,400, double the number two weeks before. The virus is spreading rapidly and the situation across the country is alarming: hundreds of towns and villages have exceeded the threshold of 3 per thousand inhabitants. Most new infections have been reported in the capital Bucharest.

Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, doctor Alexandru Rafila, believes that easing down restrictions during summer and the low immunization rate have led to the current situation: ”The immunization rate is low, so most patients committed to hospital or treated in intensive care units have not been vaccinated. They account for 70% of the population. This is one of the reasons for the current situation. The other one is the total relaxation of restrictive measures until the 10th of September.”

In his turn, the coordinator of the mass vaccination campaign, Valeriu Gheorghita, has warned that the Romanian medical system risks being overwhelmed if the number of infections continues to grow: ”The Delta variant, which is dominant today, spreads so easily that for almost all people with no immunity, no protection after either the disease or vaccination, and who live in crowded towns and cities, the risk of infection is very high in the upcoming period. We have hundreds of thousands of people with no protection and it is important for us that these people do not get infected, which would block the medical system.”

According to Valeriu Gheorghita, about 33% of the eligible population aged above 12 have been vaccinated in Romania. This means that one third of Romanians have received at least one dose of the vaccine so far, most of whom are fully vaccinated. In the capital Bucharest over 51% of the people have been immunized, and all counties, except for one, have a vaccination rate of over 20%. (EE)