In a press statement on Thursday, Preside Klaus Iohannis has announced the first restrictions to be lifted amid the downward trend of the coronavirus infections in Romania. The first measures are to be waved right from this weekend.
“We’ve discussed with the members of the government today about the pandemic, the vaccination campaign and about the first restrictions to be lifted. It has been too much suffering in Romania and I am sorry for all those who have suffered due to this virus. We have to also recall doctors, the medical staff, they were our heroes. We owe them big thanks”, the head of state pointed out.
“We see that the pandemic has slowed down a little bit, it’s like we are taking a deep breath, but it must be very clear that we are preparing for a post-pandemic Romania. The pandemic will not be over tomorrow or on September 1. Post-pandemic Romania must be a Romania where we are enforcing reforms”, Iohannis stressed.
He reminded that the vaccination campaign has gained speed, while calling on citizens to keep on getting vaccinated. “We need more. If we want to get out of the pandemic we must get vaccinated. It is not other way. We set some targets for vaccination. We aim to have 5 million people vaccinated by June 1, 6 million by July 1, and 7 million by August 1″.
President Iohannis revealed that we must have a cautious, gradual relaxation of restrictions. “We don’t want to get relaxed in June and to have a comeback of the virus in August. Relaxations are conditioned by the evolution of the pandemic and by the vaccination pace. If we want more restrictions to be lifted we need to observe the rules in places and to get vaccinated,” the president said.
The first restriction to be lifted as of May 15 will be to stop wearing mandatory face masks outdoors, with some exceptions though: in markets and fairs. At the same time, the night movement ban is lifted also from May 15.
The head of state also announced that wedding, christening parties and other festive dinners are allowed as of June 1, with maximum 70 people being able to attend outdoors and maximum 50 indoors. “But if the organizer guarantees that all guests are vaccinated, there is no more attendance restrictions”, Iohannis mentioned.
The number of participants is also restricted at the gym, provided that the manager guarantees that all customers are vaccinated.
As for schools, the Romanian President said that it’s likely that the school year ends with all pupils in classes.