Romania has no plans for national lockdown or to make Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory, the chief of the country’s emergency services said Friday.
Raed Arafat, who heads the department for emergency situations said Friday, that the number of new Covid-19 cases had fallen after Romania imposed tight restrictions last month.
Cases have gone down in Romania in recent weeks but deaths remain high. There were 2,900 new cases on Friday and 254 deaths in the last 24 hours.
People need to show vaccine certificates or proof they have had the virus in the last six months for many daily activities such as entering public buildings or going to restaurants.
“Maybe because of these measures the general public became more careful,” he said.
“It’s true there are countries like Austria which are talking about making vaccines compulsory as a new wave of cases” hits.
Austria is going back into a national lockdown and plans to become the first country in Europe to make Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory for all eligible people as the nation’s coronavirus crisis deepens,
Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced Friday that his government would look to impose the national vaccine requirement from February 1.
Just under 66% of Austria’s total population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, one of the lower rates in the European Union, where cases have soared.
The national lockdown_ the first in Europe this fall_ starts Monday and will last for 10 days minimum, and could be extended for a further 10 days, Schallenberg told reporters at a news conference in Vienna.
Romania’s deputy health minister Andrei Baciu said Austria was taking the measures “to protect those that aren’t vaccinated. They have experts who’ve reviewed the situation and are putting in place measures which have the best impact in protecting public health.”
Romania’s vaccine rate rises to nearly 45%, but still low. People in cities getting the most jabs
