Romania to test tens of thousands for coronavirus, health official says. Authorities want better snapshot of spread of COVID-19

Sedinta de guvern din data de 6 decembrie 2019, vineri. Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea

Romania’s health ministry has unveiled a plan to test different segments of the population for coronavirus antibodies to get a better idea of how the virus has spread.

Health ministry official Horatiu Moldovan said  authorities planned to test 30,000 people after Romania passes the peak of the pandemic.

“We will test the population and see what percentage was infected with the coronavirus (looking at) age, and regions,” Moldovan said. “Testing will be carried out after the peak…because at the moment when we are having new cases, we can’t obtain relevant results.”

The Public Health Institute will carry out the tests and the health ministry will provide the necessary infrastructure, he said in an interview on Sunday with Digi24.

„(Around) 30,000 people will probably be tested, from different age groups to see how many are immune to COVID-19.”

Authorities will use one of the accurate rapid antibody tests with a low error margin approved by the World Health Organization.

Romania registered fewer than 200 cases a day for six days, before the daily figure spiked to 213 on Sunday. Moldovan said Sunday’s figure shouldn’t be cause for alarm but added that preventive measures should continue.

„We can’t draw a conclusion after a single day,” he said. “If there is a rise in cases in the next few days, we can talks about stricter measures, “ Moldovan said.

He said the single-day rise in cases “could be due to the relaxation of rules or could be pure chance.”

However, he said that outbreaks at hospitals were currently the biggest concern. COVID-19. On Sunday, the Marius Nasta Institute of Pneumophysiology said six health workers had been infected with the virus.

„Drastic separation measures are being applied in hospitals, and epidemiological investigations are being carried out,” he said to combat mistakes made in a number of facilities.

“The outbreaks aren’t very large, and the errors will be put right and sanctioned.”

Romanian authorities are carrying out 9,000 to 10,000 tests a day. “We are testing at the same level as France and if you look at population, we are testing even more,” he said.

A good level of testing would be15,000 tests a day. Asked about a second wave of coronavirus infections, Moldovan said

“Let’s say there is a second wave after summer based on previous epidemics” he said “The aim is not to let more people get sick than we can look after.”

“That happened in the UK, Italy, Spain and the U.S.”

“We are thinking about a strategy so that everyone doesn’t get sick at once.”

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