Many restrictions to remain in Romania after emergency state ends in mid-May

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Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Monday that many of the current restrictions would stay even after the end of the two-month state of emergency on May 14.

“The state of emergency will not be extended, I will not issue a new decree to extend the state of emergency.

May 14 is the last day of the state of emergency,”

the president said in a televised statement after a meeting at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace with Prime Minister Ludovic Orban and several other cabinet officials involved in fighting the epidemic.

However, the head of state announced that the country will enter a state of alert from May 15, a level lower than the current state of emergency, as the epidemic situation has not improved and the outbreak has not yet reached its peak in the country.

According to Iohannis, Romania will gradually relax its current restrictions.

In the first phase from May 15, local travels will be relaxed and residents will no longer need to fill out travel statements when going out to work, or for medical treatment, shopping, etc., but with the three-people limit.

Meanwhile, beauty salons, dentist clinics, museums will resume operation under strict sanitary and epidemic prevention measures, such as keeping distance and wearing masks. Sports facilities will be open to professional athletes who will be allowed to train at training camps, but sports competitions still cannot be organised.

The above-mentioned relaxation measures are not applicable to the declared severely affected areas.

The president said that

the second step of easing restrictions will likely start around June 1.

He emphasized that during the state of alert, people must wear a face mask in enclosed public spaces and on public transport.

Romania entered on March 16 a one-month state of emergency, which was subsequently extended by one more month to May 14.

Romania reported 431 and 349 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Sunday and Monday, respectively. The total number of confirmed cases has reached 13,512 with 803 fatalities.