Bucharest under a partial lockdown

School classes move online, restaurants and cinemas are closed

The Bucharest Municipal Council for Emergency Situations has decided that the Romanian capital should once again enter a red scenario due to the soaring Covid-19 infection rates, as informed by Romania journal. Unfortunately, the latest news on the website of the Bucharest Municipality is from 16 October and on the Facebook page from 25 September. The lack of up-to-date information on the municipality's communication channels is most likely due to the election of a new mayor of Bucharest.

New COVID-19 restrictions in Bucharest

The red scenario for the educational sector means that physical classes are suspended and pupils will attend exclusively online courses. Schools in Bucharest have already moved their teaching completely online. Kindergartens are still being exempted from the restrictions.

Restaurants, cafes, cinema halls and theatres, as well as gambling halls are closed for the upcoming 14 days. People must wear face masks at all public indoor and outdoor spaces. The facemask is mandatory for all people, including children over 5 years of age.

The new restrictions come after the rate of infections in the Romanian capital went up to 3.19 per 1000 inhabitants on Monday, 19 October 2020.  

Non-taxation of COVID-19 testing costs of employees

During this difficult for everybody COVID-19 situation, the Romanian government announced today that the Ministry of Public Finance proposed the deductibility of expenses incurred by companies for voluntary testing of employees in order to detect COVID-19. This means exempting from paying contributions and taxes for these amounts, which would have been recorded as salary benefits.

At the same time, the Romanian state provides free testing of people that present symptoms of the new coronavirus, as well as for people identified as direct contacts of those who are ill and who are showing at least one of the symptoms.