The state of alert is over in Romania

The state of alert imposed by the pandemic is over in Romania where society is trying to go back to normal

Bogdan Matei, 10.03.2022, 01:50

Already
overshadowed by the fears fueled by the war raging in neighboring Ukraine, the
traumas caused by the Covid-19 pandemic need also to be cured among the Romanians.
Since the beginning of the pandemic 2.8 million contamination cases have been
reported in Romania, where roughly 65 thousand people have been killed by the
virus. According to pundits, in two years, Romania lost to the virus the
population of a medium town.

The
process of going back to normal seems to be slow and painful, though the state
of alert ended this week. The Covid-19 pandemic is on a downward trend and the
fifth wave is about to end – the head of the Romanian state, Klaus Iohannis has
said.

Instated
in May 2020, after two months of emergency, the state of alert entailed
numerous restrictions, which have impacted the economic development and social
cohesion in Romania

The
country has been ruled by three governments in this period, a minority Liberal
and two coalitions and the measures imposed by the authorities to contain the
pandemic were most of the time incoherent and sometimes even abusive. The Constitutional Court has invalidated some of these decisions, ranging from huge
fines during the state of emergency to the mask mandates in outdoor spaces.

One of the most outrageous cases signaled was that of an old peasant woman
who got fined for not wearing a mask outside her courtyard while the Liberal
ministers were throwing a birthday party in the government building to
celebrate the country’s then Prime Minister and their president Ludovic Orban.

Authorities are now trying to rebuild their dialogue with society
announcing new measures for the post-pandemic period. The regulations imposed
to the country’s health system during the pandemic will remain in place until
the end of this month, while family physicians are deploring the cessation of online
consultations, which used to benefit patients and doctors alike.

In the
absence of a state of alert, there is no more technical unemployment, no
further adjustment of the working hours and no more online working. ID cards, which expired between March 1st
2020 and March 7th 2022 remain valid for a period of 90 days since
the end of the state of alert. Population register offices are facing the heavy
task of issuing hundreds of thousands new ID cards and passports until the
deadline of June 7th. Collective Labour Agreements must also be renegotiated,
and experts fear that could trigger new social unrest and protests put up by trade
unions across the country.

(bill)