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Already during the first wave of the pandemic this spring, alarms sounded about the catastrophic condition of the Romanian hospital. Homemade protective suits made from black garbage bags and mouth guards made from toilet paper were reported.
The lack of protective equipment led an unusual number of healthcare workers to become ill with COVID-19.
At the same time, the government was criticized for investing in heavily armed armed forces that oversaw people’s compliance with quarantine rules, rather than addressing deficiencies in hospitals.
In lists of health systems in Europe, Romania is consistently at the bottom. In the latest ranking of the European Health Consumer Index for 2018, the country was the worst of the EU member states. Albania alone was even worse.
Now the second wave is hitting Romania hard. On Thursday, 3,130 new covid-19 infections were recorded, which for the second day in a row was a new record compared to this spring.
As in other countries, many more people are being tested in Romania now than a few months ago.
Restaurant workers in Bucharest are protesting against the strict new rules introduced this week.
Photo: Daniel Mihailescu / AFP
But the proportion of positive tests Highlights: The other day, up to 24 percent of all reported tests were positive. For comparison, the Swedish Public Health Agency reported on Thursday that the proportion of positive test results in Sweden is now 2.9 percent, a figure that is considered concerning.
In many European countries, the death toll has been relatively low during the autumn, even where the number of infections has risen sharply, such as France and the United Kingdom.
Here too Romania stands out from the crowd, although the numbers vary widely. 82 deaths were reported on Wednesday and 44 on Thursday.
The government has reintroduced some of the stricter rules that were enforced in the spring and summer. For example, restaurants and bars in Bucharest have been closed.
The capital’s intensive care units will soon be full and there is talk of moving patients to less affected regions. On Wednesday, Health Minister Nelu Tataru warned in a television interview that medical care is approaching the limit.
– One thing is with 200 new cases per day, another with 2,500, he said.
That number was far exceeded the next day.
Read more:
Infection is increasing among the elderly in seven European countries
