Romanian authorities expect Covid-19 pandemic peak end-April, difficult weeks ahead

Some analyses show that Romania will see the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic between April 22 and April 26, Raed Arafat, the head of the Emergency Services Department (DSU), said. However, the data could change, he said, insisting that prevention measures need to be maintained after the epidemiological peak is reached.

“There are two aspects: […] there is an analysis that shows that, most likely, the peak will come in between April 22 and April 26, but this can change, and it can happen later, it depends on very many aspects. At this point, the peak is foreseen towards the end of April, probably the beginning of May, but this can change,” Arafat said, quoted by News.ro.

He also said that prevention measures would be needed after the peak of the pandemic passes.

“The idea of the emergency state is that certain measures can be taken. The limiting of fundamental freedoms can be done only during the emergency state, and quarantining a person, when it is done en masse […] here, normally, this decision is correlated to the presence of the state of emergency,” he said.

The DSU head also said that several intensive care units in the country have already reached two thirds of their capacity to care for patients in serious condition. Romania had 204 Covid-19 patients in critical condition and admitted to intensive care units on April 12.

“The evolution shows that the situation is not yet under full control, anytime it can grow exponentially, it is growing, we have not yet overcome the trouble […] we still need to put up with these self-isolation measures and reducing social activity. It is not the time to go back to how things were. Whoever relaxes puts us at risk of having the situation explode and not being able to control it,” Arafat said in an interview at România TV, quoted by News.ro.

He also explained that people would have to continue to follow measures such as wearing a mask, following hygiene rules, and social distancing.

Arafat also said that efforts are being made to purchase new ventilators and that providers have promised to deliver them rapidly.

On Friday, April 10, health minister Nelu Tătaru said that the Romanian health care system can deal with the number of Covid-19 cases that are currently diagnosed but that “two difficult weeks” lie ahead.