Coronavirus cases surged to a 5-month high on Wednesday, surpassing 4,000 for the first time since mid-April.
The Strategic Communication Group said 81 Covid-19 patients died in the past 24 hours.
One person in their 30s died and another in their 40s. Eleven patients were in their 50s and the rest were older than 60.
There were 44,608 tests carried out in the past day, giving a positivity rate of just under 9%.
Bucharest registered 579 cases, the highest number nationwide for any county on Wednesday, followed by Timis, in southwest Romania where there were 235 new infections.
It was the highest daily toll since April 14.
Cluj had the third largest number of confirmed cases, reporting 170 new infections.
The national infection rate rose to 1.26 on Wednesday.
Worryingly for health authorities, the number of patients needing intensive care continued to rise. On Wednesday, there were about 700 patients in ICU, of which nine were minors.
Some 5,868 Covid-19 patients are hospitalized, including 167 children.
Cases have soared in the past few weeks and doubled in recent days.
There were almost 4,000 cases on Tuesday in Romania and 96 deaths.
Almost 3 million students returned to schools on Monday as cases spiked.
Face coverings are compulsory for children and teaching staff inside schools to stem the spread of the virus.
Authorities say that lessons will resume online if the infection rate exceeds 6 per 1,000 residents in an area.
Romania reports almost 4,000 new coronavirus cases, highest daily tally in nearly 5 months
