Romania on Friday reported a record 2,343 new coronavirus cases for a third day running, with Bucharest posting an all-time 517 high of fresh infections.
The northeast county of Iasi which has seen a spike in recent weeks reported 107 new cases on Friday, while Bacau county also in the east had 168 cases. Ilfov county which is next to Bucharest had 102 cases.
Romania reopened schools on Sept. 14 and the rise in cases is likely connected to this withe ore than 2,000 cases reported every day since Wednesday.
Authorities fear cases may rise again after municipal elections were held last weekend.
Prof. Alexandru Rafila, Romania’s representative at the World Health Organization, said Wednesday that Romania was experiencing a second wave and was “at a point of widespread community transmission” following a spike in cases in recent days.
There 53 deaths in the last day, 36 men and 17 women l had underlying health conditions. The youngest fatality was a person in their 20s and another was in their 30s. ten were in their 50s.
All but two had underlying health issues such as diabetes, cancer or heart disease.
The number of patients in intensive care units shot up to 571, the highest number ever. There are 7,795 patients with Covid-19 being treated in hospital.
The Strategic Communication Group said 26,001 tests were carried out, of which 9.01% had positive outcomes, higher than previous days.
