Italy offering COVID-19 therapy to Romania

Romania's Acting Health Minister Cseke Attila says that Wednesday criteria for the monoclonal antibodies therapy used in mild cases of COVID-19, will be published in the Official Journal.

A C-27 J Spartan aircraft of the Romanian Air Force brought on Tuesday evening from Milan approximately 5,200 doses of monoclonal antibodies, which are part of the COVID-19 therapy.

"Italy is offering us this important support in the COVID-19 treatment. I can tell you that tomorrow in the Official Journal there will be updated criteria for such therapy, which consists of an intravenous injectable drug, important in mild cases and where symptoms persists up to seven days. The criteria were established by a specialist board of the Ministry of Health, so that tomorrow, with this shipment, we will have the medical criteria for treatment and distribution in Romanian hospitals," said Cseke on Tuesday night at 90th Airlift Base, after the arrival of the aircraft.

He pointed out that there are "promises from other European Union states to support Romania". "It is an important mechanism of solidarity," the interim minister of health said.

In his turn, the Italian ambassador to Bucharest, Alfredo Maria Durante Mangoni, mentioned the assistance given by Romania to his country last spring in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are happy to have the opportunity to help our Romanian partners and citizens in these difficult times," the diplomat said.

The assistance offered to Romania by Italy, by making available these doses in the stockpiles of the Lombardy Region, comes as a result of Romania's request for support in combatting the effects generated by the exponential increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

The request was addressed to the Emergency Response Coordination Centre of the European Commission (ERCC), through the Common Emergency Communication and Information System (CECIS), by the Department for Emergency Situations and the Inspectorate General for Emergency Situations.

The flight was carried out at the request of the Department for Emergency Situations as part of the efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, with the mission conducted under the Civil Protection Mechanism of the European Union.

The distribution of the monoclonal antibodies from the Comandor aviator Gheorghe Banciulescu 90th Air Transport Base is carried out by the Inspectorate General for Emergency Situations with the Ministry of Interior.

Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that mimic the immune system's ability to fight off harmful antigens such as viruses. They are specifically directed against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 and is designed to block the virus' attachment and entry into human cells.