Romania's minister of health Alexandru Rafila announced that he would declare the state of epidemic alert for flu – which, however, does not include restrictions or measures such as quarantine or isolation, but only protection recommendations.

He assured that the country is faced with an unprecedented, but not dramatic, situation.

Avoiding restrictions is also one of the reasons why the authorities do not want to declare a flu epidemic at this moment but only a state of alert. "We cannot take measures that will once again block economic and social activity in Romania," minister Rafila said, according to Profit.ro.

School classes will resume as normal and will not be suspended or moved online.

The minister previously explained that the flu epidemic would be declared if there is an increase of at least 20% in the number of cases for three consecutive weeks and if 10% of the samples taken are positive for the flu.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/George Calin)