Health minister: Romania could reach COVID-19 pandemic peak by the end of the week

Romania could reach the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic towards the end of this week, health minister Nelu Tătaru told public television station TVR in an interview.

He explained that the number of cases had been relatively constant over the past week, and the country was heading towards a plateau.

“In our country, we are on an ascending slope towards a plateau. As the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control was showing today, four countries in Europe are heading towards stabilization: Poland, Romania, UK, and Sweden. Bulgaria still has a high number of cases. The other states have a decrease in the number of cases. We have been on a plateau for a week, towards stabilization, without having a decreased number of cases; we have a constant number,” Tătaru explained.

The health minister also explained that the authorities are discussing the need to have 100 million protective masks on the market. These would be available for purchase but will also be distributed to people who cannot afford them.

After May 15, when the state of emergency will be replaced by the state of alert, wearing a mask will be compulsory in closed public spaces and on public transport.

The health minister said he did not expect the price of the masks to be higher than the current one.

He also explained that the precautionary measures would have to be observed after May 15 as well because “even if there will be a period with a drop in the number of cases, community transmission will still exist, it will not go away.”

Romania had 13,512 Covid-19 cases on May 4.

(Photo: Gov.ro)