President: Situation is extremely serious, Romania must keep pandemic under control

Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has labeled the current coronavirus situation in the county as “extremely serious” and said the country must keep the pandemic under control.

Iohannis is to meet interior affairs minister Marcel Vela and Emergency Situations Department (DSU) head Raed Arafat on Thursday, July 30, to evaluate the situation, as the country added close to 1,200 new coronavirus cases on July 29. Romania has been reporting more than 1,000 Covid-19 cases for eight days in a row.

Speaking about the newly-introduced coronavirus prevention measures, the president stressed the importance of following them.

“We have gone from several hundreds of cases to approximately 1,200 new cases per day. It is clear that something needs to be done. These are relatively simple measures. The mask is a simple thing, safe. Nobody wears a mask for fun, but this is one way to prevent the virus from spreading. The other measure is to keep the distance. Wearing a mask is very important, and it is compulsory. Distancing is critical and is compulsory. What do we want in the end? Do we want to let the illness lose and become ill, or do we want to keep it under control? I am convinced that you also want this under control,” the president said at a press conference on July 29.

Speaking about a potential reintroduction of the state of emergency, Iohannis said a decision in this respect could only be taken if specialists rule out other solutions. “I want to think there are other solutions,” he said.

He expressed confidence that “together, we will manage to keep this epidemic under control, in a reasonable way.” “Reasonable means not having a significant increase in the number of new cases in the coming period. The state of emergency would hinder some freedoms, rights, the economy, as a last resort,” he said.

Romania was under a state of emergency from March 15 to May 15, when it entered the state of alert.

The president also explained that the authorities plan on purchasing a Covid-19 vaccine, when it becomes available.

Iohannis also expressed his admiration for the healthcare workers and said that people need to support them by wearing a mask and following the prevention measures.

“Let me express my admiration for those in the front line. For months, they have been keeping the epidemic under control. Let’s be serious; if we want things to be managed well, we need to help them. Let’s all help the doctors. Wear a mask, keep the distance, and prevent the overcrowding of hospitals in Romania,” Iohannis said.