President Klaus Iohannis: We must take action to reduce population mobility

“I hope that you, the Prefecture, the Police, the Gendarmerie, are very firm. Be very firm, because it is not about some political measures, to show that we know what we want to do. It is about public health measures that are absolutely necessary and the lives of many Romanians are at stake.

So, firmness, clarity, until everyone understands that these measures must be respected. I know there are no popular measures“Iohannis said in the video conference with the prefects.

He stressed that the new measures taken at the national level are “well thought out, correct and expect results in two or three weeks at most.”

On the other hand, Iohannis said that population mobility must be reduced, to reduce contact between healthy and sick people.

“On the other hand, the second major package of measures refers to mobility. We must take the appropriate measures, which are required at that time, to reduce the mobility of the population. This means that we are practically reducing the possibilities of contact between people infected and healthy people. We can already see that the measures taken by the Government a few weeks ago, measures that, at that time, gave rise to debates of all kinds, we see that these measures are already giving the first results. ” said the President of Romania.

The head of state is currently in a videoconference with the prefects on handling the COVID-19 epidemic.

The meeting is attended by Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, Interior Minister Marcel Vela, Health Minister Nelu Tătaru, and the head of the Emergency Situations Department, Raed Arafat, the Presidential Administration announced.

Press release from President Klaus Iohannis at the beginning of the video conference with the prefects:

“Hello everyone!

I invited you today to a meeting that I think many of you have looked forward to. The Prime Minister and I consider that, at this difficult time for everyone, it is good to see each other, tell you how things look here, in the Capital, and listen to your opinions, from the provinces.

Let me start by thanking you because, for months, you have been involved, together with the Government, together with me, in the management of this pandemic.

It is an extremely difficult period and new challenges appear every day, but, until now, we have faced them and, together with you, all of us, from the counties, I intend to continue facing them.

During the pandemic, we have all noticed that obviously the most important thing is to take the necessary measures to stop the spread of the pandemic. I remind you that the first place for all of us, and therefore for you, is the health of Romanians, but this requires measures that come mainly from two areas.

The first zone is the protection zone and here we are talking about measures that, fortunately, the Orban government has been taking for a long time, it is about wearing a mask, distance, hygiene.

On the other hand, the second major package of measures refers to mobility. We must take the appropriate measures, which are required at that time, to reduce the mobility of the population. This means that we are practically reducing the chances of contact between infected people and healthy people. We can already see that the measures taken by the Government a few weeks ago, measures that, at that time, gave rise to debates of all kinds, we see that these measures are already giving the first results. Surely you have noticed that three or four weeks ago the number of cases increased a lot from week to week and now we are, I think, already in the third week when the maximum number of cases is in the area of ​​10,000 and there are many days in which the number of new infections is significantly less than 10,000. Unfortunately, we cannot say that we have managed to stop the pandemic, but we have the first confirmations that the measures taken a few weeks ago have paid off.

Unfortunately, these results, even if they exist and show that the measures we are taking are well thought out, they were not enough. They were not enough because, we see, in Intensive Care the number of people is increasing, unfortunately, and this is the great tragedy. Every day we see that we have a significant number of deaths. Too many, too many Romanians die from this disease and then obviously a new set of restrictive measures was imposed.

A few months ago, together with the Government, we decided to give the local authorities the opportunity to make decisions based on developments there, locally. This approach worked reasonably and could be reacted depending on the evolution of the pandemic in each county, in each locality. We all know that the evolution of the pandemic is different in different localities, in different counties. Where there have been many new cases, tougher measures have been taken. We have, even these days, localities, even large municipalities, that have been quarantined, because another measure has not yielded enough results.

But, coming back, the new set of measures taken at the national level is well thought out, they are the right measures and they are measures from which we expect results in two, maximum three weeks. So once again we have the first encouraging results of limiting enlargement after the first set of measures taken by the Government. Now the second set has been taken, the second set of measures has been imposed, because the number of patients with severe cases has increased too much.

These measures, established and in force since the beginning of this week, are measures that must be implemented with firmness, correctness, clarity and explanation. I hope that you, the Prefecture, the Police, the Gendarmerie, are very firm. Be very firm, because it is not about some political measures, to show that we know what we want to do. These are absolutely necessary public health measures and the lives of many Romanians are at stake.

So, firmness, clarity, until everyone understands that these measures must be respected.

I know there are no popular measures. It is easy to understand that nobody is happy if they are told that they cannot drive at night or if their parents are told that the school will operate online, but these measures have been discussed with specialists, experts and everyone. I was convinced that without these measures we could not move forward.

So, I expect from you, everyone, firmness, clarity, total involvement and good public communication. Communicate the measures, communicate what is happening, but don’t become a source of panic news! That would be a fundamental mistake.

We are all very concerned, but we must not panic. We must be firm, we must make all decisions with a clear mind and, I repeat, we must bear in mind the main objective: human health.

I wish you much success in the implementation of these measures, that you have a very close collaboration and correlation between you, at the local level, and the government officials who serve you and together, I am convinced, if we do things like the world, how we should achieve prevent Romanians from spreading this pandemic.

And finally, let me tell you, there is a ray of hope – you’ve probably all noticed that in the last few days there has been positive news about possible vaccines. We do not know on what day, or even in what week, they will be available, but it is very likely that they will be possible and will be available to us in Romania from the first quarter of 2021, in installments.

We will not have all the doses at once and from the beginning, we will have them in installments. We will begin with the vaccination of medical personnel, all medical personnel, after which we will continue according to a scheme that is already developed by specialists from the National Institute of Public Health, with people on the front line, with essential workers, with particularly exposed people. to this disease and vaccination of the general population will probably take place sometime from spring to summer.

All of this is in preparation, but until then, together with you, we are managing the pandemic. It’s up to us to get it right, because that’s what Romanians expect from us.

Thank you!”

In Romania there are NO more Covid hospitals and no Covid

The situation is so serious, day by day, that in Romania there are NO more Covid hospitals and no Covid.

The virus is everywhere and doctors are faced with dramatic scenes. They must simultaneously administer the treatment of people with various serious diseases, at the same time protecting them from people infected with SARS-CoV-2, which are more and more and places – insufficient.

If things continue at the same pace, tents will be needed on the street.

In one day, of the 80 people who made it to Floreasca Hospital, 35 finally tested positive.