Romania on Tuesday posted 782 new Covid-19 cases and 14 deaths in the past 24 hours as authorities warned that a fourth wave was around the corner.
Cases have risen in recent weeks as the summer winds down and people return from holidays, where there were few pandemic restrictions.
Tuesday’s tally is the highest since May 14 when there were 835 cases.
Some 1,500 patients with the virus are in hospital, including 205 cases in intensive care units.
Health Minister Ioana Mihaila said Tuesday that hospitals were expecting a surge in patients in the coming weeks. The worst case scenario envisages 4,000 patients needing hospital treatment at the end of September.
Health authorities say daily cases could rise to 1,600 at the end of September as the more contagious Delta variant proliferates.
Bucharest reported 134 fresh virus cases on Tuesday, followed by Cluj county which had 81 new infections,
The Strategic Communication Group said about 39,000 tests were carried out. There have been almost 1.1 million SARS-CoV-2 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. The vast majority have recovered.
Thirteen of the patients who died in the past 24 hours had underlying health conditions such as heart disease or cancer. One person was in their 20s.
There are currently about 4,300 people with the virus in isolation at home, and 1,500 in institutionalized isolation.
Romania vaccine czar warns Covid-19 cases could rise to 1,600 a day in September
