Quarantine dodgers in Romania may face fines of up to EUR 4,000 (half a year’s net average wage in the country), the head of the Department of Emergency Situations (DSU) Raed Arafat warned Romanians on Wednesday.
“The amount of the fine is 4,000 euros. If need be, the fine can be applied several times to the same person if it is ascertained that they have left their homes (while under quarantine),” Arafat said at a Bucharest press conference at the Ministry of Interior, to which the BSU belongs. Arafat serves as head of the agency as state minister. He added that several people returning home from abroad have tried to dodge the mandatory isolation period.
As we reported earlier as well, several Romanians coming back from Italy tried to fool the authorities and “sneak back” into the country in order to prevent going into quarantine.
The Romanian National Emergency Committee has ordered the nationwide closure of every pre-school and educational institution between March 11-22 to allow ample time for the thorough disinfection of such facilities during this period.
Romania currently has 49 confirmed coronavirus cases – thankfully no casualties so far. Officials have warned that the epidemic is approaching the “next level” of emergency.
While the country is fighting the disease, which has just been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, Parliament is also having a vote later today on whether to confirm the liberal government of former Finance Minister Florin Cîțu or not. Romania currently has an acting government, after Prime Minister Ludovic Orban’s administration was ousted in a vote of no confidence on February 5, after just three months in office.
Title image: An official sprays disinfectant in a kindergarten to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in Miercurea Ciuc, or Csikszereda in Hungarian, central Romania, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. (Nandor Veres/MTI via AP)
