Romania tightens pandemic measures amid COVID-19 surge

By STEPHEN McGRATH
Associated Press

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Tighter pandemic measures have come into force in Romania as authorities hope to quell sharply rising coronavirus cases amid concerns that the next virus wave could overstretch the country’s health care system. In mid-December, Romania was reporting fewer than a thousand COVID-19 infections a day, but over the past week, new daily cases have surged to around 6,000. It is the highest number of infections since early November when cases were on the decline following a vicious fourth virus wave. Over the winter holiday period, hundreds of thousands of Romanians return home from other countries, many from the West, which fueled concerns over the threat of the fast-spreading omicron variant. Romania has so far confirmed almost 300 cases of the variant.