Coronavirus cases continued to fall on Wednesday in Romania especially in the capital where cases fell to under 3 cases per 1,000 residents for the first time in months.
The drop in new infections in Bucharest means that restaurants can reopen, Prime Minister Florin Citu said. Schools across Romania are expected to reopen on February 8 when the new term begins,
Schools and restaurants closed mid-November closed as cases soared, leading to new restrictions including a curfew and restrictions on public gatherings.
„The measures put in place during the holidays have yielded results,” the prime minister said. “Now Bucharest has fallen to under 3 to 1,000 and if this trend continues it’s good news for Horeca (the hospitality industry) and we can reopen restaurants if we stay under 3 to 1000.”
The closure of restaurants with no outdoor seating has been one of the least popular restrictions and has drawn criticism from the hospitality industry which has been hard hit by the pandemic.
The Strategic Communication Group said there were 3,000 new cases on Tuesday and about 27,000 tests, giving a positivity rate of 9.14%
Bucharest posted 257 cases, more than anywhere else but far fewer than recent weeks when there were as many as 2,000 cases a day The southwestern county of Timisoara added 194 cases and Cluj reported 1876 new cases.
However, there were 116 Covid-19 related deaths, the highest number of fatalities for a single day since. There were more than 1,050 Covid-19 patients in a serious condition.
There are now only three counties in Romania with more than 3 cases per 1,000: Cluj and Brasov in Transylvania and Timisoara in the southwestern Banat region.
Romania has reported a cumulative 700,900 cases since the pandemic began.
