HealthMin Tataru says Romania still aiming for coronavirus peak, but on gentle slope

Health Minister Nelu Tataru said on Tuesday that Romania is still headed for the peak of the coronavirus pandemic and expects the number of new cases to decrease "from one day to the next" for the next two weeks.

"We were expecting at the end of April, after the Easter holiday, a peak, with the peak predicted to be steeper or smoother. We were talking about 10,000 - 12,000 cases or, if steeper, it could have happened a little after May 1 and with a larger number of cases, maybe 15-20,000. We are at that time still heading for the peak, but it is a gentle slope at this moment, with a growing number of cases, but in a so-called saw-shaped plateau. One day we have a bigger number, the next day a smaller number, and again a bigger number. We are at a time when we have over 11,000 cases, over 3,000 cured cases, 660 deaths, we have 246 cases in intensive care," Tataru told Digi 24 private broadcaster on Tuesday evening.

He said that there are a few days off, May 1 for instance, and the time must be very well managed to prevent new outbreaks.

"We are at a time when that slope is smooth, but then three days come, May 1, 2 and 3, after a period in which the world feels the need for relaxation, and so the moment must be managed very well. We have been under lockdown, even on Easter, and the public obeyed that, for which I want to thank them. But there was also a relatively small part of the public that did not comply, that did not follow social distancing, that broke voluntary isolation at home; disregarding one rule of everything that means emergencies can lead to an outbreak in the community or exacerbate an outbreak that we thought extinct or controlled at the time," said Tataru.

He added that he hopes that for the next two weeks the number of new cases and deaths will decrease and that after the May 15 it will be possible to get to easing the lockdown.

"We hope that for the next two weeks we will see from one day to the next a decrease in the number of new cases, a decrease in deaths, a decrease in the number of intensive care cases, those that are problematic and we can hope that after May 15, when the state of emergency extended by decree by President Klaus Iohannis expires, to think of a relaxation, but until then I am not talking about relaxation, I am talking about the same precautions, the same recommendations, the same isolation and social distancing," said Tataru.