Iohannis says no official talks currently of lockdown in Romania

President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace that for the time being there is no discussion at the level of the national leadership about locking Romania down.

"For the time being, we are not talking at the national leadership level about a so-called lockdown, that is closing down all activities, but we are looking for solutions that will stop the spread of the virus and at the same time continue essential activities. Ultimately, no matter how worried we may be, we need to find a way to continue even though there is this pandemic. In our approach we must include the continuation of democracy in Romania. Without elections there is no democracy. There is a pandemic, at the same time the lawmakers' terms of office ends, and we have to come up and elect a new Parliament, but under very special circumstances," Iohannis told a news conference.

He underscored that the number of intensive care beds should be increased in hospitals that can receive COVID-19 patients.

"All that must be done at the same time, because locking the country down, in my opinion, is not a solution. What would we do: close the country for two weeks, then what? We have to start from scratch once again and then it is obvious that we have to found a fair balance that allows us to continue our lives under pandemic circumstances. We can't think we'll be back to normal in a month or two. We'll be back to normal if we care now, in a month or two months' time and if scientists manage to find a vaccine, hopefully soon enough," said Iohannis.