Almost 15,000 new cases of COVID-19 were registered last week, double compared to the week before the report, announced the Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila.
Thus, between July 4 and July 10, 14,943 cases were reported, compared to 7,726 between June 27 and July 3. This is the third week in which the number of cases has doubled.
“It’s an expected trend. This increase will last about 4-5 weeks, after which the number of cases will stabilize and then decrease”, said Rafila.
In the last week, 1,410 people were hospitalized, of which 86 in intensive care (68 of them unvaccinated). During the same period, 33 people diagnosed with COVID-19 died.
All people over the age of 60 should get a fourth dose of Covid vaccine
European health agencies recommend that dose 4 of the anti-Covid vaccine (second booster) be given to all people over the age of 60. So far, the recommendation has targeted people over the age of 80, but the age threshold has been considerably lowered in the context of the new wave of infections and hospitalizations in Europe.
“It is crucial that all people over the age of 60 and all vulnerable people come forward for a second booster as soon as possible,” European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in a statement.
The European Union’s health agencies recommended a second booster in April only for people over the age of 80 and those belonging to vulnerable groups.
“We are currently seeing an increasing incidence of COVID-19 and a growing trend in hospital admissions and occupancy and intensive care in many countries, with Omicron’s BA.5 sub-variant being the cause,” said Andrea Ammon, director of ECDC, in a statement.
Vaccine manufacturers, including Moderna Inc. and the Pfizer Inc. / BioNTech consortium, are testing versions of their modified vaccines to combat Omicron’s BA.1.