Prime Minister Ludovic Orban appealed to people to wear face masks and social distance, saying that if the current spike in Covid-19 cases continued, he would extend the current state of alert and not relax the lockdown.
“If I had to make a decision today, I’d propose extending the state of alert, I’d decide to extend” it, he told Digi24 late Friday.
“But let’s see how things are on the (July) 15th,” he said, referring to the date when the current state of alert expires.
The government has relaxed some rules, such as opening parks and malls, but restaurants have not reopened, and large public gatherings are banned.
It is compulsory to wear masks in public spaces and maintain a physical distance in public from non-family members, but compliance has been erratic.
Romania reported more than 400 new coronavirus cases on Friday for the second day in a pushing the total to over 28,000.
“I’m still optimistic, and I make an appeal to people not to listen to the siren song of those who tell them not to respect the rules and in fact instigate them to not protect themselves from danger.”
A siren song typically refers to the song of the siren, dangerous creatures in Greek mythology who lured sailors with their music and voices to shipwreck.
“If a
large number of people respect the rules, the risk of infection is lower and
the number of cases will go down,” he said.
