Bucharest's Municipal Committee for Emergency Situations (CMBSU) decided that the restrictions imposed under the red scenario should be extended for two weeks, starting Monday, March 22.

Moreover, the head of the local administration in the capital city, prefect Alin Stoica, announced that it is "very likely" to put Bucharest under quarantine if the infection rate with COVID-19 exceeds 6 cases per thousand inhabitants (over 14 consecutive days).

The rate rose by half of a percentage point from one day to another and reached 5.33 on March 21. Most of the communes surrounding Bucharest, which host a significant part of the municipality's workforce, are under quarantine already.

Asked whether Bucharest's districts could come under quarantine individually, prefect Stoica said that this would not make much sense [given the mobility of the population], Digi24 reported.

"If we go over 6 per thousand, schools will be closed according to the common order of the Ministries of Education and Health. It is also very possible to decide on a zonal quarantine, involving Bucharest and the neighboring localities, which are already under quarantine, so that traffic is limited, to avoid congestion, especially in public transport, markets, shopping malls, and so on. Obviously, the people will be allowed to move only in cases where it is necessary and with a declaration on their own responsibility," said prefect Alin Stoica on March 21, after the CMBSU meeting.

(Photo: Alberto Mihai/ Dreamstime)

andrei@romania-insider.com