Over 100 Romanians infected with COVID-19 died in the past 24hrs

4,724 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Romania in the past 24 hours, out of 28,876 conducted tests. The fatality rate is on an alarming upward trend, with 104 victims reported in the past 24 hours, which is the highest number of daily casualties due to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

824 patients infected with the novel coronavirus are in intensive care.

Overall, the tally of Romanians infected has climbed to 217,216 since the debut of the coronavirus pandemic. 155,630  patients were declared cured.

Separate from the newly 4,724 cases reported in the past day, other 1,084 already infected persons tested positive for the virus again, following retesting.

Bucharest and other 5 counties still post the highest infection rates, over 3 per 1,000 inhabitants.

The death toll climbed to 6,574, with 104 new more deaths reported in the past 24 hours: 56 men and 48 women from Alba, Arad, Argeș, Bacău, Bihor, Bistrița-Năsăud, Botoșani, Brăila, Brașov, Buzău, Călărași, Caraș-Severin, Constanța, Covasna, Galați, Giurgiu, Gorj, Harghita, Ialomița, Iași, Maramureș, Mureș, Olt, Prahova, Sibiu, Suceava, Timiș, Tulcea, Vâlcea, Vaslui, Ilfov and Bucharest.

Among the latest victims, 5 were in the 40-49 age group, 10 in the 50-59 age group, 25 in the 60-69 age group, 34 in the 70-79 age group and 30 in people over 80.

100 of the recent victims who died due to the SARS-CoV-2 infection had pre-existing medical conditions, while no comorbidity has been reported for 4 patients.

10,758 Romanians infected with the novel coronavirus are currently hospitalized, with 824 of them being admitted in intensive care units.

As for the infections among the medical staff in Romania, the Strategic Communication Group announced that 3,847 representatives of the medical staff have tested positive for the novel coronavirus until October 27 (that including doctors, nurses, orderlies, ambulance staff). 33 deaths have been reported among the medical staff.

Secretary of state for emergency situations Raed Arafat has stated on Tuesday that the pressure on the healthcare system amid the growing number of coronavirus infections is increasing and we are slowly “entering the logic of disaster medicine”.

Arafat added that there will be days with 100 patients in intensive care, which means our system must be adjusted and new working mechanisms must be enforced following the disaster medicine concepts.

He announced that an emergency ordinance to enable hiring around 200 doctors for the intensive care units in a first stage, for the medical staff is missing in intensive care units across the Romanian hospitals. The hiring plan would allow doctors who are specialized in intensive care, in emergency, pneumology, infectious diseases and epidemiology to be immediately hired without any contest.