A 71-year old Italian citizen who visited Romania last week was diagnosed with the coronavirus and admitted into a hospital in Rimini. The man went to the hospital in Cattolica with cough and flu symptoms shortly after he returned to Italy from a trip to Romania, according to Mediafax.

The Romanian authorities asked for more information from their Italian counterparts and found that the man was in Craiova between February 18 and February 22. There, he visited his Romanian wife’s relatives and had several business meetings.

“The Romanian authorities have activated the necessary protocols in this type of situation, an epidemiological investigation will be initiated and the quarantine or isolation measures will be ordered, as the case may be,” according to a press release issued by the Strategic Communication Group, quoted by G4Media.ro.

The risk that the coronavirus will spread to Romania has increased significantly after the outbreak of the virus in Italy, a country that hosts a community of about one million Romanians. The Romanian authorities are trying to keep the situation under control by checking the people who come to the country from Italy, but this is rather difficult especially for those who enter Romania by car.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos / George Calin)