Extension of state of alert among today's items on gov't agenda

The draft decision on extending the state of alert on the Romanian territory starting January 8 and establishing the measures to be applied during it to prevent and combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is among the items to be discussed at Thursday's Government meeting, Agerpres reports.

According to the Executive, the draft normative acts and the public policy documents to be discussed at the meeting can suffer modification after today's debates.

The National Committee for Emergency Situations (CNSU) adopted a decision on Wednesday regarding the proposal to extend the state of alert and the measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to it, "a proposal is to maintain the obligation to wear exclusively medical or FFP2 protective masks, which cover the mouth and nose, in all the enclosed areas and open public spaces, under the conditions established by the joint order of the Minister of Health and the Minister of Interior." Exempted from these will be children under the age of 5; people who work alone in the office; TV hosts and their guests, provided that the distance of 3 metres between people is observed; the representatives of the religious cults, during religious services, provided that the distance of 3 metres between persons is observed; speakers in enclosed areas or open spaces, provided that the distance of at least 3 metres is observed between them and any of the other persons in the audience; people who engage in intense physical activity and/or demanding work conditions (high temperatures, high humidity, etc.) or sports activities.

CNSU proposes that a series of activities, such as sports or cultural competitions, be allowed at a capacity of 50pct, if the cumulative incidence rate for 14 days is less than or equal to 1/1,000 inhabitants.

If this rate gets higher, participation will be allowed only up to 30pct of the maximum capacity of the spaces.

Participation will still be allowed, in these contexts, only for persons who are vaccinated, who test negative for an RT-PCR test (not older than 72 hours) or rapid antigen (not older than 48 hours), or for those who already had the disease and are cured.