The number of Covid-19 cases
in Romania is for the time being much lower than in other European countries
like Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland and The Netherlands. Romanian
health experts tend to believe, however, that infections may peak at the end of
April. Based on the most pessimistic scenario, the authorities are making
preparations for the health system to cope as best as possible with the
challenges ahead. It’s a fight against the clock.
New measures were announced
on Sunday night concerning the staff on the front line. Medical staff can no
longer refuse to be posted or transferred for the duration of the state of
emergency, but must go wherever they are needed, even to understaffed public
hospitals in other counties, said the head of the department for emergency
situations, Raed Arafat. He also said that hospitals can no longer refuse to
take patients on grounds that they have not been confirmed either positive or
negative for Covid-19. In these circumstances, the medical staff are obliged to
protect themselves in all cases. Raed Arafat:
Refusal to admit a patient
who needs medical care is a criminal matter. We are warning hospital managers
and heads of departments, as well as the doctors on call in hospitals that
patients cannot be denied treatment based on confirmation of whether they
tested positive or negative for Covid-19.
More tests among the
population will also be carried out gradually, according to Dr Alexandru
Rafila, the president of the Romanian Society of Microbiology:
The fact that we’re able to
double our testing capacity from one week to another is a good thing and I hope
that in the next few weeks we may end up testing up to 10,000 people a day.
In another development, A NATO C-17 Globemaster III aircraft has made a second shipment
to Bucharest of 10,000 protection suits purchased by Romania from South Korea.
A ROLE 2 type field hospital put in place by the army was declared operational
on Saturday near Bucharest, within the grounds of the Ana Aslan Institute of
Gerontology and Geriatrics. The hospital will function as an external wing of
the emergency Military Hospital in Bucharest. Work is also under way in
Constanta, in the south-east, on a modular isolation and treatment hospital as
part of the infectious diseases department of the city’s military hospital.
Finally, the domestic production of face masks began on Sunday in Romania, with
150,000 pieces to be produced every day within a short period of time. (Tr.: CM)