Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on Tuesday and discussed the COVID-19 crisis and a new wave of the pandemic, according to Romania-Insider.
Romanian officials believe that a fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic will hit Romania this winter, most likely after the holidays.
“There is indeed a major concern about how each Member State and the Union as a whole are able to manage the COVID-19 pandemic,” PM Ciuca said at the end of his visit to Brussels.
“We also discussed the impact that the new wave of the Omicron variant is already having on several European countries and how we should be really prepared for its impact on our country as well, estimating a time interval of probably not more than three weeks until it will also reach our country. As such, the main topic of discussion was how we are prepared to handle the fifth wave,” he added
Ciuca explained that there were also talks about Romania’s vaccination campaign and ways to increase vaccination.
Health Minister Alexandru Rafila said on Tuesday that the fifth wave would probably last at least two months, with February and March seen as months of maximum risk.
Romania was strongly hit by the fourth wave of the pandemic, with local hospitals struggling to cope with the influx of cases. However, things got a bit better over the past few weeks as the daily number of COVID-19 cases started to drop.
So far, Romania has officially confirmed 16 cases of infection with the Omicron variant