Timisoara enters quarantine while Bucharest closes restaurants as COVID-19 infection rates rise

Timisoara, the fourth-biggest city in Romania, and several neighboring communes have entered quarantine for 14 days as of March 8 due to a surge in the number of new COVID-19 cases. Timisoara is the first first-tier Romanian city to take such a decision in 2021.

In Timis county, the infection rate with COVID-19 is 5.48 cases per thousand inhabitants, while in Timisoara it is 7.49 cases per thousand inhabitants, as of March 6 when the decision was taken. Locals will be able to leave their homes only for well-grounded reasons and only based on a statement. The stores will close before 20:00, and the number of customers admitted inside simultaneously must not exceed 30% of the usual capacity. All schools will close, and students will take online classes.

Hundreds of city residents gathered in front of the city hall to protest against this decision. At the same time, supermarkets in the city were overcrowded with people seeking last-minute shopping, Digi24.ro reported.

Meanwhile, the infection rate in the capital city Bucharest and three other counties (Ilfov, Cluj, and Brasov) exceeded three persons per thousand residents, putting them in the red zone. This means the local authorities will restrict certain economic and social activities.

Bucharest's Committee for Emergency Situations has decided to close indoor restaurants, cinemas, theaters, gambling venues, cafes, and clubs starting March 8, according to Digi24.ro. However, kindergarten and primary school pupils, as well as students in final years preparing for the national examinations, will be allowed to go to school physically, while the rest will stay home and study online.

In related news, the head of the Department for Emergency Situations, Raed Arafat, said that the country faces the risk of faster COVID-19 spread due to the new strain that is becoming predominant everywhere. The national average rate of infections "is around 3 per thousand, 2.90 - 3 per thousand," he said.

All localities in the country are monitored, and where local or regional quarantine measures are required, they will be taken. Otherwise, we could reach more drastic measures at the national level, according to Arafat, who assures that a new countrywide lockdown is not "on the table" at the moment.

"If the growth continues (...) where local and zonal measures are needed, they will be taken. If we do not take them, we will end up taking more drastic national measures, and we are trying to avoid this. At this moment, we do not discuss a total lockdown. We try our best not to get there," Raed Arafat said, quoted by