PNL's Orban: Calculation of SARS-CoV-2 infection rate is transparent; data cannot be modified

The President of the Chamber of Deputies, Ludovic Orban, on Wednesday stated that the way in which the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infections is calculated was "transparent," all data are known and cannot be changed in any way, adding that "the Minister of Health must take care of the health of the citizens."

He was asked about the statement made by the Minister of Health, Vlad Voiculescu, according to which the way in which the infection rate with the novel coronavirus was calculated before the elections raised some questions.

"The Minister of Health must lead the fight against the pandemic, he must support the vaccination process, he must prepare the projects to be financed, both under the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) and through the 2021 - 2027 financial exercise, the Minister of Health must follow the approval of all the acquisition projects of hospitals (...), the Minister of Health must be very, very busy. I do not comment a comment. With respect to the calculation of the incidence rate, it was known during the entire time, an application have been developed with the support of the STS (Special Telecommunications Service), called Coronaforms, through which application the whole process became transparent and known. The test centres, the Public Health Directorates, the INSP (National Public Health Institute), the Health House, the family doctors, the diagnosed patients were all there, in the application. And all this data cannot be changed in any way," Orban said.

Regarding the PSD's (Social Democratic Party) request to set up a commission of inquiry into Voiculescu's statement, Orban said: "PSD members have time to look at the comments made by a minister at midnight, on a post made by a deputy to try to set up a parliamentary committee."

The PNL leader said "the Minister of Health must take care of the health of the citizens."

"I didn't have time to read the comments, I didn't even have time to read the comments on the Facebook pages of my colleagues, but then to read the comments on all the Facebook pages of all the coalition MPs. I'm a busy man, I am a man who has an activity that does not allow me to follow (...) the comments. And I think that this is how a man should be in a public service," added Ludovic Orban.

PNL MP Violeta Alexandru and the Minister of Health, Vlad Voiculescu, had an exchange of remarks on Facebook regarding the official statistics concerning the number of COVID-19 infections, reproaching the fact that public statements about distrust in numbers increase concern, while Voiculescu replied that the "innovative way" in which the infection rate was calculated before the elections raised some questions.