Black day for Romania’s fight against COVID-19

The Romanian authorities Tuesday announced new negative records in terms of the Covid-19 pandemic

Daniela Budu, 13.10.2021, 14:00

Tuesday was another black day for Romania’s efforts to
contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The authorities announced nearly 17,000 new
cases of Sars-CoV-2, 442 Covid-related deaths in 24 hours and around 1,700 patients
in severe condition.

The total number of infections since the onset of the
pandemic thus reached 1.4 million, and the number of fatalities is now over 40,000.

The situation is dire, dr. Adrian Marinescu with Bucharest’s
Matei Balş Institute of Infectious Diseases admits. He says Romania’s topping
the EU and world statistics by number of deaths among COVID-19 patients and the
healthcare system overwhelmed by the large number of cases are the consequences
of the very low vaccination rate.

Adrian Marinescu: I’ll make this very clear. There
is no country in the world with extensive vaccination rates, at 70 – 80%, where
things are not okay in terms of the number of hospitalised patients, of severe
forms of the disease, of ICU patients. What we see in Romania is,
unfortunately, in direct relation to this low vaccination rate. Statistics
translate into reality, and I can tell you that in intensive care units, 94 -
95% of the patients in critical condition are not vaccinated.

The physician also said, in a specialised conference, that
this month is expected to be very difficult as regards the healthcare crisis,
but the situation will likely improve after that.

In turn, the head of the National Coordination Committee
for COVID-19 Vaccination, Valeriu Gheorghiţă, says prevention programmes are
needed in Romania, and health education should begin in the early school years,
so as to ensure that citizens perceive vaccination as a normal act of
protection against diseases.

So far, Romania has received over 20 million doses of anti-COVID
vaccines, and only little over half of them have been used. According to
official data, at present the COVID vaccine coverage among people over 12 years
of age is around 34%.

In an effort to increase this rate, which is substantially
smaller than in other EU countries, the head of the vaccination programme
announced that a new anti-COVID vaccination marathon is being planned in the
capital city.

In the current context, the education system is once
again one of the most severely affected. The interim education minister Sorin
Cîmpeanu urged schools to identify the best solutions to benefit students. By Tuesday,
the Bucharest City’s School Inspectorate had received over 100 requests from
schools to suspend face-to-face teaching. (tr. A.M. Popescu)