Coronavirus: Romania faces a significant increase in community transmission, PM says

More than 950 localities in Romania reported at least one case of coronavirus infection in the last 14 days, and this comes to show that the country is facing "a significant increase in community transmission of the virus," prime minister Ludovic Orban said on Tuesday, July 21.

On June 1, there were only 350 localities with at least one case confirmed in 14 days.

"We are facing a significant increase not only in the number of cases but also in the transmission of the virus in communities. If on June 1, we had at least one case in the last 14 days in 350 localities, today there is at least one case in the last 14 days in 954 localities. […] This means a significant increase in the risk of transmission, but it also means that the authorities are more determined to impose all necessary measures to limit the spread of the virus," Orban said, according to News.ro.

He also said that he requested the police's involvement in identifying contacts of people with confirmed COVID-19 infection.

"We asked the Police to support the public health departments in quickly identifying the contacts of the infected people so that the quarantine or isolation measures at home can be implemented as soon as possible," the prime minister explained.

Ludovic Orban also said that the new law concerning the public health measures that can be taken in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, which was recently adopted by the Parliament, gives the authorities the possibility to place specific areas under quarantine, News.ro reported. However, he also explained that the health authorities are not considering any such measures at the moment.

Another 994 new cases of coronavirus infection were reported on Tuesday in Romania, pushing the total to 39,133. This is the highest number of daily cases confirmed in the country since the start of the pandemic.

(Photo source: Gov.ro)