Head of RO emergency services warns of rising COVID-19 infection rates

The head of the Department for Emergency Situations, Raed Arafat, said that the country faces the risk of faster COVID-19 spread due to the new strain that is becoming predominant everywhere.

The national average rate of infections "is around 3 per thousand, 2.90 - 3 per thousand," he said, quoted by Bursa.ro.

All localities in the country are monitored, and where local or regional quarantine measures are required, they will be taken.

Otherwise, we could reach more drastic measures at the national level, according to Arafat, who assures that a new countrywide lockdown is not "on the table" at the moment.

"If the growth continues (...) where local and zonal measures are needed, they will be taken. If we do not take them, we will end up taking more drastic national measures, and we are trying to avoid this. At this moment, we do not discuss a total lockdown. We try our best not to get there," Raed Arafat said.

(Photo: George Calin/ Inquam Photos)