Prime minister says Romania may impose travel restrictions for countries with high Covid infection rates

Foto: INQUAM/George Călin

Romania’s prime minister says the government plans to impose travel restrictions for visitors from countries which have higher Covid infection rates than Romania.

Premier Ludovic Orban said a decision will be made on Monday at the National Committee for Emergency Situations which decides what new measures to take to limit the spread of the virus.

Visitors from countries, “places or areas” that have a higher Covid-19 infection rate will have to stay in quarantine if they are spending more than three days in Romania, Mr. Orban said on Wednesday evening.

The government is concerned about a recent spike in cases. On Wednesday, a record 2,158 cases in a single day were reported, the first time when there have been more than 2,000 cases in a day.

Also Wednesday, Prof. Alexandru Rafila, Romania’s representative at the World Health Organization, said the country had entered a second wave of coronavirus infections and was “at a point of widespread community transmission.”

Referring to planned restrictions, Mr. Orban said travelers from high-risk countries who are staying three days will need to show a negative Covid-19 test when they enter the country.

Mr. Orban said  he was waiting for a European Union common approach to the problem but there had been no decision.

“For this reason, we will ….re-introduce restrictions for countries with a higher level of infection than Romania for the last fortnight.”

He said travelers staying longer than three days could either go into quarantine or would have the option of taking a Covid-19 test om the fifth day, and would be able to leave quarantine if it was negative.

The prime minister said he’d asked county authorities to get more involved in implementing measures adopted by Bucharest and communicating with the public about the pandemic.

He spoke after a video conference with county prefects about handling the pandemic.


He asked the officials to make sure health measures , such as  mandatory masks and physical distancing was respected in schools.

Romanian schools re-opened on Sept. 14 and authorities are concerned about a possible spike in cases. The country held municipal elections on Sunday, another cause for concern.

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