The Government has approved the decision on extending the state of alert by 30 days, starting with October 15, said the head of the Department for Emergency Situations (DSU), Raed Arafat, specifying that it also provides for the mandatory wearing of the face mask in all open spaces in localities where the incidence of COVID cases exceeds 3 per one thousand residents.

"Today, we discussed during the Government meeting the proposals of the National Committee for Emergency Situations that we announced yesterday, in fact. The following confirmed measures remain in place regarding the wearing of the face mask - for an incidence ranging from 0 to 3 face masks are mandatory in crowded spaces and within a distance of 50 metres from the entrance to schools, starting with a 3 per thousand incidence the mask is mandatory in all open spaces," Raed Arafat said on Wednesday at the Victoria Palace of Government.

He added that the provisions according to which "restaurants, cafes, cinemas (...) shall operate at 50% capacity at an incidence ranging between 0 and 1.5 per one thousand population" remain valid.

"Between 1.5 per thousand and 3 per thousand, at 30% capacity, and at more than 3 per thousand, then, unfortunately, they will be closed," Arafat said.

Another provision approved by the Government's Decision regarding the state of alert refers to the mandatory weekly testing of the personnel working in residential centers, through the care of the Public Health Directorates.

"This is necessary after the staff no longer rotates every 14 days and they come in normal shifts, so their evaluation every 7 days will prevent the transmission of the virus or reduce the risk of transmission of the virus to the residents of the respective centers. So these are the main provisions that were established by today's government decision," said Arafat.

Asked what was decided in the case of private events, the DSU head mentioned: "Private events, if I failed to talk about them, yes, private events remain restricted, namely prohibited in closed and public spaces nationwide, so this is also set forth in the government decision." AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Florea, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Simona Iacob, editor: Simona Klodnischi)