President Klaus Iohannis said efforts to increase the capacity of Intensive Care Units will be intensified.

"The number of deaths caused by this relentless virus is still too high, similarly, the pressure on the anesthesia and intensive care units remains at very high levels and that is why we have decided, together with the Ministry of Health, to intensify efforts to increase these units' capacity, namely the capacity of the ICUs at national level. (...) As of April, or March, more precisely, we doubled the number of beds in ICUs. We have doubled the number of beds in ICUs starting from an already high number of ICUs beds, compared to other systems in other countries, but it is clear that, unfortunately, that is still not enough. Every week, through the effort of doctors, through the effort of the ministry, of the [ed.n. -Health] Minister personally, new ICU beds are being added and we will continue at this pace, because our ambition is to be one step ahead of the evolution of the pandemic in this regard and the results so far have shown that this has been the case and this is how we intend to continue," Iohannis said on Sunday after visiting the Fundeni Clinical Institute.

The head of state stated that a very good example of adapting to the growing needs of intensive care is the modular system set up on the premises of the Fundeni Clinical Institute.

"The container is appareled with all the necessary equipment, we are talking about beds, mechanical ventilators and syringe pumps and at the moment it has all the approvals necessary for operation, being serviced by the doctors of Fundeni Hospital, whom I congratulate for making it possible to have such a space," the president specified.

Klaus Iohannis said that new buildings are needed at the Fundeni Institute, when asked about the fact that this hospital institution does not have a fire safety permit.

"I discussed these matters with the management of the Institute and found some things that they have known for a long time. We have a very dedicated staff, we have a very efficient management, but we have a hospital since '59. A lot has been improved, other things cannot be changed in the buildings that exist now.In principle, yes, we need new buildings if we want to have circuits as they are necessary, nowadays, and if we want to have buildings that meet absolutely all the safety requirements. The management here knows these things, there is a request for European funds to start the reconstruction of the hospital from this point of view and I will support these requests," the head of state also stated.

President Iohannis also visited the modular system dedicated to children included in the oncology program, showing that it is also equipped with competitive safety standards against the infection with the novel coronavirus.

"This center with day hospital beds is the result of a collaboration between the public hospital, non-governmental organizations and the private sector. Here you can see all the things that can be achieved through a genuine partnership and I am convinced that we will see such successful initiatives more and more often. I want to thank all those who support the work of doctors in these difficult pandemic conditions," Iohannis said.

He pointed out that the Minister of Health presented him with the preliminary report of the control actions in the intensive care units - COVID and non-COVID in the hospital units at the level of the whole country.

"We have also discussed the measures included in the action plan that are to be implemented as soon as possible," Iohannis added.

The head of state called again for compliance with sanitary norms and restriction measures and reiterated that they were "correct, just".

"I would like to emphasize again that, although there are positive signs, we still have a long fight ahead of us, together, to keep this pandemic under control. Until the anti-COVID vaccine is available and its use on a large scale, nationwide, only compliance with health regulations and restrictions is effective in limiting the spread of this virus. Doctors are doing their best to save as many lives as possible. Let each and every one of us support them in this huge effort to protect the health of the entire nation!," President Iohannis communicated. AGERPRES (RO - author: Florentina Peia, editor: Georgiana Tanasescu; EN - editor: Simona Iacob)