Romanian President Klaus Iohannis announced on Thursday that the state of emergency will be replaced by “pandemic rule” starting on Friday, meaning restrictions will be eased in the country, but he also added that if the situation worsens and the data show an increasing number of infections, he will not hesitate to introduce a state of emergency again.
Iohannis emphasized that the pandemic is not over yet, therefore some restrictions will remain for the time being. For example, the wearing of a mask inside buildings. He declared that the drastic measures taken by authorities early on proved to be appropriate, as Romania has enjoyed a proportionally low number of pandemic related infections and deaths.
“Today, on the date of expiration of the state of emergency, Romania has registered 16,247 cases of disease, with 245 new cases from yesterday to today, which shows a slightly decreasing epidemiological trend. The number of cured cases – 9,053 today – is higher than the number of active cases, 6,148 as of today,” said the president.
According to Iohannis, from a medical point of view, there are some positive signs, and this is why it is possible to ease the restrictions. But he also warned that the danger posed by this virus is far from over and if people do not maintain social distancing and things deteriorate, then he will declare the state of emergency again.
“And I want to be very clear: If the situation worsens and the data show an increasing number of infections, which will
lead to overcrowding of hospitals, then I will not hesitate to declare a state of
emergency again!”
– said Iohannis.
The president was also thankful that the overwhelming majority of people have strictly complied with the restrictions imposed by the authorities during the past two months, and he especially thanked doctors and medical staff for their hard work and extraordinary efforts throughout this period.
According to the latest data, Romania had 16,437 confirmed coronavirus cases, with 1,056 casualties and 9,370 recovered patients.
Title image: Romanian President Klaus Iohannis announced the easing of emergency restrictions on May 14, 2020. (Image: Romanian presidential administration Youtube channel)
