Romania has added a record 9,714 Covid-19 cases and for a fourth day in a row, one-quarter of people tested had positive outcomes.
In another day of negative developments, 121 people succumbed to the virus the second highest tally for a single day but less than Wednesday’s all-time high of 146 deaths.
Intensive care units were treating 1,014 SARS-CoV-2 patients, another record, the Strategic Communication Group said.
Some 37,742 tests were carried out giving a positivity rate of 25.7%. It was the fourth day when around one-fourth of more of those tested have been confirmed to have the virus.
Sixty-eight men and 53 women with the virus died all over the country. Five were in their 40s and 12 were in their 50s. The rest were older than 60.
Nine of the deaths were patients who had no underlying health conditions. Elderly people and patients with cancer, diabetes and heart and kidney disease are most vulnerable to the virus.
Cases surged all over the country with fifteen counties reporting more than 200 new infections. Bucharest posted 1,084 cases in the past 24 hours, fewer than Wednesday.
The counties of Timis in southwest Romania and Cluj in the northwest currently have the highest infection rates outside Bucharest after outbreaks there. Both places added more than 500 new cases on Thursday.
Nationwide, 2,600 hospital beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients, including those in intensive care.
More than 191,000 people have recovered from the virus since the pandemic started in late February/
