Romania reported 331 Covid-related deaths on Wednesday, the highest figure for a single day since the pandemic started,
President Klaus Iohannis called the situation “a catastrophe,” speaking an hour before the daily Covid bulletin.
Some 14,744 new cases were posted on Wednesday, only slightly lower than the all-time record of 15,037 the previous day.
Hospitals are treating 1,513 patients in intensive care units, including 23 minors, the Strategic Communication Group said.
Health authorities said they were bracing for more hospital admissions, as cases are expected to continue to rise.
On Tuesday evening, six patients with a severe form of the virus were transferred to the northwestern city of Targu Mures after the capital ran out of intensive care beds.
As cases soared in the capital and other areas, authorities said that face coverings would again become mandatory in areas where cases were in excess of six per 1,000 inhabitants. The health and interior ministries made a joint decision to impose the restriction.
Bucharest is easily the worst affected by the recent spike in cases. It had an infection rate of almost 11 per 1,000 on Wednesday, which translates to one in 100 people currently infected.
The worst situation is in the first district where almost 12 per 1,000 have the virus.
The infection rate is measured over a 14-day rolling period.
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