Romania’s two largest cities are gearing up for new restrictions, including a night-time curfew as the Covid-19 infection rate exceeds 6 cases per 1,000 people in Bucharest and Cluj, according to Bloomberg.
Authorities are preparing to tie access to restaurants to vaccination status and ban large events. Schools may be closed on a case-by-case basis as the government tries to limit online schooling because of worsening exam results last year.
Unvaccinated people would not be allowed to leave the house between 20:00 and 05:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with a few exceptions.
Bucharest’s Covid-19 incidence rate reached 6.33 per thousand on Wednesday. The Municipal Committee for Emergency Situations is expected to meet within the legal term of 48 hours to decide on the new measures, according to Romania-Insider.
The delta variant is spreading quickly across Europe’s east, where countries are lagging their richer western neighbours in vaccinations.
Romania has fully vaccinated 27.5% of its 19 million people, the second-lowest rate in the European Union, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It had the highest number of new cases since the start of the pandemic on Tuesday.
“This situation is unacceptable considering that we have the solution to limit the negative effects of this pandemic, the vaccine,” said Valeriu Gheorghita, the head of the government’s vaccination task force.
“Under no circumstance should we get used to living in these conditions, with hospitals overwhelmed by sick patients, intensive-care units full and people dying everyday because of the virus. We all have to make an effort to control this pandemic,” added Gheorghita.