Romania extends state of alert, bans wedding events, removes some countries from "yellow list"

Romania’s National Committee for Emergency Situations – CNSU proposed on Tuesday, October 13, the extension of the state of alert in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government will take the final decision in this sense. Thus, the state of alert will likely be extended by another 30 days, starting October 15.

The CNSU also updated the list of restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of the coronavirus and added new ones to the list. The most important new restriction bans private events that involve many people, such as wedding and baptism parties, and anniversaries. This measure will apply in the whole country, regardless of the incidence of new COVID-19 infection cases in each region. It applies both to indoor and outdoor events of this kind.

The Committee took this decision because people don’t follow social distancing and sanitary rules during such events, CNSU head Raed Arafat said on Tuesday evening.

However, the Committee also slightly relaxed the restrictions on theaters, restaurants, and cafes, allowing them to operate in counties or localities with less than 3 new infection cases per 1,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days. Thus, in localities with an incidence rate of under 1.5 new cases per 1,000 inhabitants, restaurants, cafes, theaters and cinemas can operate at 50% of their capacity, and, in localities with 1.5 to 3 new cases per 1,000 inhabitants, they can operate at 30% of their capacity.

CNSU added new situations in which wearing face masks is mandatory. Thus, masks will be compulsory in all outdoor places in localities with over 3 new cases per 1,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days.

The Committee also updated the list of countries in the “yellow zone” for which travel restrictions apply. The number of countries on the list was reduced and it now includes only countries with a higher incidence rate than Romania. Thus, Austria, Denmark, Hungary and Ukraine were removed from the list, for example.

All of CNSU's decisions on October 13 are available here (in Romanian).

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