The number of COVID-19 related deaths in Romania has reached 50,087, including 483 deaths reported on Friday, the latest official data has shown, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
This puts the eastern European country with a population of about 19 million among the countries hardest hit by the virus in the world.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 8,268 in the last 24 hours, with over 57,000 tests performed nationwide, the Strategic Communication Group (GCS), Romania's official COVID-19 communication task force, has said.
So far, 1,693,532 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed across the country, 9,020 of whom got reinfected more than 180 days after their first infection. So far, 1,469,303 patients have been declared cured, according to the GCS.
Romania has suffered a surge in daily COVID-19 infections and deaths since late September, hitting new records in key indicators in mid October: 18,863 daily new COVID-19 infections and 574 deaths.
The increase rate has been gradually slowing down since then, but daily deaths and the number of critically ill patients are still growing, with 591 deaths reported on Tuesday and a record high number (1,902) of ICU patients on Thursday.
Once again, the country has made it obligatory to wear masks in all public places and reintroduced a night curfew for a period of 30 days as of Oct. 25. At the same time, access to public buildings and to all public activities and events will be restricted to persons with a vaccination certificate.
Local experts said the low vaccination rate in Romania, less than 40 percent, and non-compliance with COVID-19-related protection measures among some citizens have been facilitating the spread of the virus.
The month-long political instability, with a caretaker government limited in their functions, is also believed to have hindered the adoption of stronger containment measures.