The Romanian authorities will enforce this week tighter restrictions at a national level to curb the spread of the coronavirus, including extended night curfew, announced the head of the emergency situations committee (CNSU) Raed Arafat on March 23, Digi24 reported.

President Klaus Iohannis, in a public statement one day later, confirmed that indeed, the quarantine is not an option for Bucharest - but he added that supplementary restrictions are needed, Hotnews.ro announced.

The Municipal Committee for Emergency Situations hasn't been summoned in Bucharest yet, although it is supposed to decide additional restrictions 48 hours after the infection rate exceeded 6 per thousand residents.

On March 24, the infection rate in Bucharest rose to 6.37 from 6.22 the day before.

CNSU head Arafat argued that Romania took a relatively mild approach in the third wave of infections, as it set milder restrictions and has not enforced them sufficiently.

While the relevant authorities in Bucharest are late in addressing the rising infection rate, CNSU was summoned for March 25. Among the supplementary restriction, the curfew might be extended to start at 20:00, and the stores might be closed at 18:00 - but only during the weekends.

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andrei@romania-insider.com