Iohannis: We don't consider Easter lockdown; state of alert to be extended this week

President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday that the authorities don't consider implementing any lockdown measures for Easter, and the state of alert will be extended this week.

He added that the circulation restrictions during the night could come into force earlier, at 22:00 instead of 23:00, as they currently are.

"The state of alert will be extended this week, due to the relatively high number of illness, and the restrictions that are in force will be kept, and the circulation at night time, which is now restricted starting at 23:00, will be restricted earlier, probably starting at 22:00," the head of state said at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.

At the same time, he said that the state of emergency is not taken into consideration for the Easter holidays.

"I can tell you very clearly, dear Romanians, we don't consider a lockdown for Easter," Iohannis also said.

He warned about the high number of SARS-CoV-2 infections.

"I want to draw the attention that, however, the figures of the past week on the COVID-19 pandemic evolution are concerning. The growing trend is obvious and we receive messages from all areas that the pressure on the ICUs wars is increasingly higher," the President added.

The head of state urged Romanians to observe the sanitary norms in force.

"My dear, let us not waste what has been conquered so far through the vaccination campaign, which is going very well (...). So that until summer we have a very good vaccination level. Nonetheless, until then we must be careful not to drown on the shoreline," Iohannis underscored.

In respect to the vaccination campaign, he brought to mind that over one million people got vaccinated against COVID-19 in Romania and said that "the number of administered doses increases from one day to another, the number of vaccination centres increases from one week to another."