Romania to boost ICU beds

Romanian authorities work to increase number of intensive care beds to over 1,600, as healthcare system struggles to cope with third wave of Covid pandemic.

Eugen Coroianu, 20.04.2021, 13:50

73 new ICU beds may become
available in Romania soon, to take the total number in this country to over
1,600. State secretary with the health ministry Andrei Baciu says 13 new beds
have already operational, but that everything now depends of the availability
of human resources. This comes as Romanian hospitals are struggling to cope
with the large number of admissions, especially severe cases, following a rise
in the number of Covid infections. Prime minister Florin Cîțu has admitted that
the ICU situation remains sensitive and emphasised that the allocation of human
resources must remain a priority. We must keep up the efforts despite, and
that’s the good news, a decrease in the number of new positive cases, he said,
adding that the third wave has begun to abate without Romania going into lockdown.

In another development, state
secretary Baciu said there’s a growing interest in vaccination among the general
population, with hesitation levels below 10%. Most people would get the vaccine
if one would become available right now, he said, explaining that Bucharest and
the counties of Cluj, Sălaj, Sibiu and Maramureş have reached a 20% vaccination
rate. We provide increased access to vaccine in places with a high infection rate
so as to assist the local authorities, the health ministry official also said.

In the meantime, the dispute
continued in Bucharest following comments by outgoing health minister Vlad
Voiculescu about the number of Covid hospital deaths. A member of the Save
Romania Union and PLUS Alliance, which is part of the ruling coalition, Voiculescu
said there are differences in how the deaths were reported last year during the
former government run by the Liberals and asked the current Liberal prime minister
Cîțu, who previously sacked Voiculescu without consulting the coalition
partners, to clarify the situation. The Social Democratic Party in opposition requested
the creation of a parliamentary inquiry committee, accusing the authorities of tampering
with the figures.

Colentina Hospital in Bucharest said
the differences that exist in two different applications for reporting Covid
deaths are minimal and are due to an objective factor, namely the time when the
entry was made. This hospital, which was turned into a Covid support facility as
early as March last year, also says all deaths have been recorded in keeping
with the legal provisions in place and that statements to the contrary have no basis
in reality. The defence ministry has also said that the deaths recorded by the Covid
treatment facility known as ROL 2, and which is run by the Central Military
Hospital, were centralised and reported in keeping with the law. (CM)