Romania will start the production of sanitary ventilators in partnership with French group Renault and its local subsidiary Dacia, after a US company has provided the blueprint for the equipment, Romania’s prime minister Ludovic Orban announced in an interview given to the public radio, local Mediafax reported.

Separately, the Ministry of Defence has designed its own sanitary ventilator that is currently being tested, PM Orban added.

The contracts with foreign suppliers of medical ventilators have been canceled after many countries have banned the export of medical equipment, the head of the Romanian executive explained. The country had contracted 400 ventilators, but none of them reached the country, PM Orban said implying that the contracts were terminated.

Romania has some 1,300 sanitary ventilators installed and another 300 that can be attached if needed to intensive therapy beds.

As of April 9, 178 patients were under intensive care in Romania, out of the total of 4,326 COVID-19 patients in local hospitals (5,202 total infected subjects minus 647 treated and 229 dead).

editor@romania-insider.com

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