Romanian gov’t announces third extension of state of alert amid increasingly severe epidemic

The Romanian government decided late Friday to extend the expiring state of alert by another 30 days from Aug. 16, in response to the increasingly severe epidemic situation in the country.

This is the third time that the government has extended the state of alert which first started in mid-May, following the end of a two-month higher-level state of emergency.
The government’s latest decision shows that

there will be no new restrictive measures.

In addition, the closing time for open-air dining will be postponed by one hour from the current 23:00 to appease the growing dissatisfaction from the catering industry.

Mask-wearing is mandatory in indoor and crowded open-air public places now.

In addition, indoor public catering including in cafes, confectioner’s shops, bars and restaurants are temporarily closed.

Daily new COVID-19 cases have exceeded 1,400 for three consecutive days in Romania, reaching 1,415 in the last 24 hours, according to official statistics.

Meanwhile, 44 new related deaths were recorded, making Romania the country with the highest death rate from the virus among the European Union countries in the latest two weeks.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control,

Romania registers 19.1 deaths per million inhabitants in 14 days, while the European average is 4.1.

The epidemic has rebounded sharply in Romania since mid-June, when the average daily cases were around 200. More than 1,000 new cases have been confirmed every day for three weeks.