Romania enters fourth stage of Covid-19 epidemic with 1,500 ventilators
After 1,952 Covid-19 cases were confirmed in Romania on March 30 (13:00), the country is preparing to enter the fourth scenario of the coronavirus epidemic, when the threshold of 2,000 cases is exceeded.
Almost 1,500 mechanical ventilators, essential devices for Covid-19 patients in critical condition, are available in intensive care units in Romania, health minister Nelu Tătaru told G4Media.ro on Monday, March 30.
At the same time, the authorities are currently undertaking the purchase of another 2,000 ventilators, he told G4media.ro. However, their delivery depends on finding the providers, the restrictions imposed by the governments of the exporting countries, and the existing manufacturing capacity.
At a potential epidemic peak of 10,000 Covid-19 patients, critical cases account for 10% of the total. If the peak does not come suddenly, the support capacity offered by the existing ventilators will not be exceeded, Tătaru said.
The health minister explained that, in addition to mechanical ventilators, doctors can use the existing anesthesia machines and monitored beds.
According to data from the National Public Health Institute quoted by G4media.ro, hospitals reported having 2,816 mechanical ventilators, 1,987 anesthesia machines, and 7,670 monitors. However, not all of the equipment is in use, medical sources explained.
With a population of in between 19 and 19.5 people at the beginning of 2019, according to data from the National Statics Institute, Romania has around 7 (7.7 – 7.8) ventilators per 100,000 people.
If all the reported 2,816 ventilators were in use, then around 14 (14.3 – 14.7) devices would be available per 100,000 people.
On Friday, March 27, Alexandru Rafila, the president of the Romanian Microbiology Society, said that he was most worried about the capacity of the intensive care units because a mechanical ventilator is used for three weeks, on average, on a patient, while Romania has 1,300 such devices.
Countries everywhere are looking to buy more ventilators as hospitals face shortages of equipment because of the large number of Covid-19 patients needing treatment. In mid-March, Germany was looking to buy 10,000 such devices, while Italy 5,000, Reuters reported.
In Romania, the project of a locally-designed ventilator, developed in Timişoara, is going into testing phase this week. Meanwhile, the Romanian companies in the automotive industry have formed a group with the aim of starting production of medical mechanical ventilators, economy minister Virgil Popescu announced.
