PM Orban, Bucharest Mayor Dan visit Bucharest Ambulance: Number of crews for testing to be increased

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban and the mayor general of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, visited the Bucharest - Ilfov Ambulance Service on Sunday, announcing on this occasion additional crews carrying out tests and taking samples from people suspected of being infected with the novel coronavirus.

Prime Minister Orban explained that in Bucharest there is a very large increase in the number of people calling 112 and urged the people of Bucharest to call only if they have an emergency.

"My recommendation to citizens is to call 112 only when after the family doctor does not give them another solution, he/she recommends them to call the emergency service", said Orban.

In his turn, Nicusor Dan added that there is an overload of the Ambulance due to the very large number of people who were to be tested, so he ordered the secondment of staff from the administration of the City Hall hospitals to the Ambulance.

The manager of the Bucharest - Ilfov Ambulance Service, Alis Grasu, declared that, starting with Monday, 30 crews will go only for consultations and sample harvesting. Also, 70 people were employed, out of a total of 141 scheduled.

"At the moment, you know that we have a relatively new fleet of 106 emergency ambulances, we also have the old fleet in operation, so we are talking, in total, of 275 ambulances. We still need staff. We will continue to do the hiring procedure until we fill all the 141 positions we have at the moment and we rely on the fact that in the future these positions will remain in the Ambulance services and after the end of the pandemic and, through additional posts, we will be able to cope with other situations, if any", said Alis Grasu.