Romanian health minister Alexandru Rafila said on February 1 that the country "may return to normal" at the end of March, and thus there will be no need to extend the state of alert.

However, he added, difficult days are still ahead, when over 50,000 new Covid-19 cases per day will be reported.

On February 1, Romania reported a record number of 40,018 Covid-19 cases - one-third of the number of tests carried out in the day.

Rafila declared on Tuesday, speaking for the public TV station, that he is confident that Romania will return to normal, including regular economic activity, by the end of March.

"I think we will return to normal by the end of March. Normal means that the alert state will probably no longer be needed. I had many meetings with representatives of various industries: tourism, HoReCa, large retailers, large investors in Romania. Everyone wants predictability, a sincere discussion that will make it possible to restart the economy, and I think that by the end of March, we can have very serious discussions so that people know what to do in the coming months," the minister of health said, according to Digi24.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)