Romanians could return to an “almost normal” life in about two months, health minister says

Romanians will be able to return to a “quasi-normal” life in late July-early August, but they will still have to practice social distancing, health minister Nelu Tataru said on Tuesday evening, May 26, local News.ro reported.

He also said at local news channel B1TV that the number of coronavirus cases is steadily declining in Romania and that the authorities will evaluate this Friday the situation of the last two weeks. Based on this evaluation, they could decide to ease more of the restrictions imposed amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The relaxation measures taken so far by the Romanian authorities “have been easily controlled,” Tataru also said, adding that “this doesn’t mean that we don’t have to be cautious anymore.”

The health minister is “pretty sure” that the terraces will reopen on June 1, but with several safety precautions.

“We keep the same physical distance of a meter and a half and take precautions for common places, such as restrooms. There may be several measures, but we will do an evaluation at the end of this week,” Nelu Tataru said, according to Agerpres.

He added that the beaches could also reopen starting June 15.

Romania replaced the state of emergency with the state of alert in mid-May. In this context, the authorities also eased some of the restrictions imposed during the state of emergency. For example, citizens are no longer required to fill out a form to leave the house, and the hotels, stores with direct access to the outside, beauty salons, dental offices, churches, museums, libraries, exhibition halls, and public parks can reopen during this period.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)