Coronavirus cases in Romania
Romania’s coronavirus official death toll hit 876 on Thursday, according to data issued by the country’s Strategic Communication Group (GCS) on May 7. Another 392 coronavirus-related cases were confirmed out of a total of 14,499 cases across the country. A total of 6,144 people were cured while the number of tests performed hit over 220,000 (225,613). Romania confirmed its first coronavirus case on February 26 in a man from the southern county of Gorj who had been in direct contact with an Italian citizen who traveled to Romania earlier that month.
Lockdown-related criminal files
Officials with Romania’s Interior Ministry have filed 539 criminal cases based on allegations of breaking the emergency measures in place since the country’s coronavirus lockdown in March, according to data issued by the Strategic Communication Group (GCS) on Thursday. The high fines handed out in the last 24 hours amount to RON 5,110,730. Romanians had to fill an official form explaining why they have gone out along with an ID card. Anyone caught breaking restrictions faces fines of between RON 2,000 – 20,000.
Fines explained
High fines for people breaking emergency rules were not thought as a tool for budget money raising as they were designed to avoid a further spread of COVID-19, Romanian Finance Minister Florin Cîțu explained in a TV programme on Thursday. However, few were the fines already paid, Mr. Cîțu admitted on the occasion. Leaders of the opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance of Liberal Democrats for Europe (ALDE) called on the center-right-wing National Liberal government to take necessary steps in order to avoid an obstruction of Romania’s courts expected to rule on hundreds of thousands of lawsuits.
Alexandru Danga
