All Bucharest hospitals asked to prepare for Covid-19 patients, PM warns of turning point

The Health Ministry has asked all hospitals in Bucharest to establish the required procedures to be able to treat Covid-19 patients after the city recorded a record of 669 daily cases on October 14, Adevarulreported.

So far, only several hospitals had been designated to treat coronavirus patients, but the increase in cases rendered their number of available beds insufficient.

Romania reported more than 4,000 daily cases on Wednesday, the highest count since the start of the pandemic, bringing the total number of cases to 164,477. A total of 686 Covid-19 patients were admitted to intensive caser units.

Meanwhile, prime minister Ludovic Orban warned that the country was at a turning point, when the further increase of Covid-19 cases could be stopped if all institutions got involved, G4media.ro reported. He requested checks and significant fines for those who do not follow the prevention rules and the restrictions in place.

The Government decided on Wednesday to extend the state of alert by another 30 days, starting with October 15. It also approved new measures to be imposed at a local level, depending on the infection rate in each county and locality. Wearing a face mask will become mandatory in all open spaces in areas where the incidence of new coronavirus infections exceeds 3 per thousand inhabitants. Private events such as weddings, baptisms, and anniversaries are banned until the number of cases decreases.

The PM explained that, according to analyses of the Health Ministry, most people got infected at private events, a reason for the proposal to ban them.

He also requested an increase in the testing capacity. He argued that the response capacity of the public health departments (DSP) needs to be increased, including by using partnerships with private call-centers.

People without symptoms or those who do not need to have their health evaluated shouldn’t go to hospitals, the PM said.

“Those not displaying symptoms, whoever doesn’t necessarily need to have their health evaluated shouldn’t go to a hospital. The family doctor or a doctor from DSP can evaluate them. We can’t crowd the hospitals with people who do not need medical care,” he said, quoted by