The Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila, on Wednesday said that, although there is a sharp increase in the number of SARS-CoV-2 cases in Romania, with more than 34,200 new cases recorded since yesterday, there is no reason to panic. He also said the schools remain open.

"There is no reason to panic at the moment. It is important that each of us abides by the rules, encourages vaccination, especially for vulnerable groups. Also, schools remain open. Based on the established algorithm. (...) I am pleased that the Ministry of Education has finally resumed the testing programme in schools. This could help a lot, although we still need to make sure that the parents are taking the tests properly so that we can have a clear record of the children. Another very important thing that I want to talk to you about is that, as I heard from the media, there are people who send their children with symptoms to school. Such children need to be tested, they need to be kept at home and that is why the activity of the teaching staff and the rest of the staff in schools is so important, early in the morning, when they are carrying out the epidemiological activity, or during the day, depending on the schedule. Children with symptoms must stay at home," Rafila told a press conference.

A total of 34,255 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections were reported in the past 24 hours, 14,570 more than the previous day. AGERPRES (RO - author: Eusebi Manolache, editor: Florin Marin, EN - author: Cristina Zaharia, editor: Adina Panaitescu)