We have to get used to the idea that "we will live with the coronavirus for the next two years," the Romanian health minister Nelu Tataru said, explaining that we should expect seasonal epidemics during this period.

"From the experience of the 2009 swine flu pandemic, we could see that a pandemic was followed by two years of seasonal epidemics. That's how it's going to be this time. We should get used to living with the coronavirus for the next two years. […] We don't have a treatment [...], we don't have a vaccine," Tataru said in an interview with local news channel Antena 3, according to local Agerpres.

He also said that "we are not yet close to having a vaccine against COVID-19," as this process requires stabilization of the virus.

"There has to be a period of study, of testing on healthy people, and after this period, we can procure it and start a mass vaccination campaign," the health minister explained.

Romania has not yet reached the peak of this pandemic, and the authorities are still waiting to see how the coronavirus infection will evolve after the Easter holidays, Tataru also said.

Separately, the health minister also said that schools in Romania could reopen in late May-early June, Digi24.ro reported. A meeting with the education minister is planned for Wednesday, April 22, to set some health protocols for schools.

Prime minister Ludovic Orban also said that the government's goal is to ensure all conditions for the safe return of students to school so that they can finish the school year and take the national exams.

newsroom@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Gov.ro)