COVID-19 is back in Romania and they are running out of ICU beds

As local health authorities reported more than 7,000 cases yesterday, many municipalities are gearing up for new measures

Covid infections across Romania are rising, and the health system there is facing significant pressure to deliver on scarce resources, such as ICU beds. Yesterday, health authorities reported 7,045 new cases of the disease, an infection rate last seen in November of 2020, two weeks before the second wave peaked in the country.

Local authorities, most notably Bucharest and Timisoara, are preparing new restrictions to daily life, including curfews, travel and event capacity.

Local authorities are contemplating new measures

Timisoara, one of the largest cities in Romania is introducing a weekend curfew, from Friday to Sunday. Between the hours of 20:00 and 5:00, there should be no traffic in several parts of the city. This is coupled with an older weekend restriction on shops and services, which are allowed to serve customers from 5:00 to 18:00 - outside this period only home deliveries are allowed.

The measures will be lifted if, after 14 days, the incidence rate goes under 3.5 per 1,000 inhabitants.

In Bucharest, authorities are contemplating a similar strategy, because of their 3.3 per 1,000 inhabitants incidence rate. The number of new cases in the capital has tripled compared to three weeks ago.

Hospital beds are running out

According to the Strategic Communications Group (GCS), the official government body for coronavirus information, Romania is facing a shortage of ICU (Intensive Care Unit) beds. The GCS state that there are a total of 1,100 beds, dedicated to COVID-19 in the country, with 100 for special cases with underlying health risks.

On Wednesday they reported there are more than 1,000 people in intensive care. Hospitals in Bucharest ran out of beds for Covid patients on 20 September.

Romania is one of the countries in the European Union with the lowest vaccination rate, currently sitting at around 27%. Still, national health authorities have begun to consider a possible booster shot for people who were inoculated more than six months ago.