Coronavirus in Romania: Covid-19 patient dies after being sent home by two hospitals, total victims reach 22

The number of people who have lost their lives in Romania due to the new coronavirus (Covid-19) has reached 22, according to an update issued by the Strategic Communication Group on Thursday evening, March 26.

Five new victims were reported on Thursday, and two of the cases raise serious concerns.

Victim number 20, a 49-year old man from Timis county, is the first confirmed Covid-19 patient who died at home (on March 26). On March 20, the man went to the Emergency Department of the County Hospital in Timisoara, where he was diagnosed with acute pneumonia. He was released and advised to seek specialty consult at the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Timisoara. The patient didn’t meet the risk factors for Covid-19 as he said he hadn’t traveled abroad or met anyone infected with the virus

The man went to the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Timisoara on March 21. There, the doctors maintained the pneumonia diagnostic and sent him home. On March 24, he called an ambulance as he was feeling very sick. The ambulance crew took a sample from him to test him for Covid-19 and left him at home.

The test came positive on March 26 and the patient died the same day. Apparently, he also had pre-existing chronical diseases (rheumatoid arthritis and hypertension).

Another case that raises questions is that of victim number 22, a 45-year old man from Arad who was confirmed with Covid-19 infection on March 25 and died the same day in the ambulance, as he was being transported to the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Timisoara. No pre-existing conditions are mentioned in his case.

(Photo source: Dreamstime.com)