The epidemiological situation in Romania is relatively stable, prime minister Ludovic Orban said, adding that the increase in COVID-19 cases reported in the country after the relaxation measures adopted on September 1 is not yet worrying.

The PM also said that the government's goal is to "return to normal life as soon as possible," and urged Romanians to follow the health protection rules.

"The epidemiological situation in Romania is relatively stable. The only worrying rise (e.n. in COVID-19 cases) was seen after the Constitutional Court's decision, which left the government and the health authorities without the tools necessary to stop the spread of the virus. Between the Court's decision and the time the law came into force, from a weekly average of 370 cases, we reached an average number of 1,200 cases. Since then, there has been a sensible increase in cases following the relaxation measures adopted on September 1, but it's still a growth that is not worrying," Ludovic Orban said on Thursday, September 24, News.ro reported.

Asked to say if Romania could return to the state of emergency, the prime minister said the government's goal was to "return to normal life as soon as possible."

"The more Romanians follow the protection rules rigorously, the more stable the normality will be, allowing economic development and life as close to normal as possible," he said.

In related news, the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) warned on Thursday that seven EU Member States are experiencing an evolution of the COVID-19 epidemic that causes "great concern" and increased mortality risks. Romania is in this group of seven countries.

The total number of coronavirus cases reached 118,054 in Romania on Thursday, September 24, after the Romanian officials confirmed 1,639 new infection cases in 24 hours. Some 94,800 coronavirus patients have recovered, while the death toll rose to 4,591.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Gov.ro)