Health Minister Nelu Tataru said on Thursday at a meeting with the local hospital directors of the central city of Brasov that moving forward they will have to manage a rising COVID-19 case count, and that the situation can be overcome only if there is also a "takeover of responsibility by business operators", mentioning at the same time that Brasov will not be placed on lockdown.

"In the future, I can speak of a Brasov that manages - as a forecast for the next two weeks - a rising caseload, but only insofar as there will be a share of responsibility by the business operators," the minister said.

Tataru pointed out that Brasov "was and remains an elite medical hub, noting that the large number of COVID-19 cases is well managed.

At the same time, he urged the local business operators to respect the health safety rules and congratulated those who initiated COVID-19 tests of employees.

"Only adaptability and efforts by the healthcare professionals, together with the involvement of local administrations and decision-makers could keep the management of this moment within normal limits and the hope that moving forward, with legislative support, we will be successful and the now critical moment will be overcome. Everything that had to do with the pandemic at the medical facilities in Brasov County meant careful management. Even if some will attribute the large number of confirmed cases to a deficit of detection, hospitalisation, I would like to mention that a large number of cases means a very large number of tests and I would like to congratulate the business operators who have initiated testing at the level of employees," said Tataru. AGERPRES (RO - author: Diana Dumitru, editor: Karina Olteanu; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)