Friday

9th Jun 2023

Feature

Coronavirus hysteria hits Romania

  • Scenes of chock-full shopping carts and empty meat and dairy shelves added to the growing sense of panic gripping the country (Photo: Cristian Gherasim)

Romanian authorities earlier this week (Wednesday 26 February) confirmed the first, and only, case of coronavirus infection - yet public hysteria over a possible national outbreak hit the country days before.

Supermarkets across the country have been stormed by panicking shoppers, looking to stock up on groceries. Fears that an epidemic would leave food supplies short led many to buy weeks' worth of groceries in one go.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Scenes of chock-full shopping carts and empty meat and dairy shelves added to the growing sense of panic gripping the country.

It began when Italy, a country of around 1.3 million Romanian migrants, and a destination where many Romanians regularly travel back and forth, became Europe's worst-affected by the new coronavirus.

In Romania, the first such case was confirmed on Wednesday night. A man from Gorj county tested positive, as he came in contact with an Italian visitor who was confirmed to be infected with coronavirus.

Authorities are now doing an epidemiological investigation in Gorj county to trace everyone the Italian citizen met during his stay there. Local measures to contain the virus are in place, as schools and kindergartens were closed down for disinfection.

A state secretary from the Romanian ministry of health recently reported during a press conference that at national level there are currently 91 people quarantined and over 7,000 kept in home isolation.

"There is no need to change our way of life, no need to crowd supermarkets, empty shelves and panic our relatives from home or abroad. When someone is quarantined, that person is cared for by authorities", said the ministry state secretary, Nelu Tataru, at the press conference.

Tataru added that for the upcoming Women's Day on the March 8 Romanians should refrain from kissing when offering flowers, to avoid possible contamination.

Despite authorities urging the public for calm and against unwarranted actions, some Romanians proved less responsive.

A Japanese marathon runner residing in Bucharest wrote on Facebook that she was being yelled at in the street accused of having coronavirus on account of her ethnicity.

The other day, fans of a local football team assaulted a person of Asian origin in the Bucharest metro.

Witnesses told a local news station that the football supporters claimed the young man was infected with coronavirus and helped spread the disease. The man was bullied as he was being pushed out the metro.

Metrorex, the company running Bucharest Metro, told EUobserver over phone that they could not verify and confirm that the incident took place and under what circumstances.

Across the country there are cases of people giving into the coronavirus frenzy.

False alarms

A local news agency reported on two people from the Prahova region of Romania who called 112 emergency number to tell on their neighbours who just returned from Italy and are having flu-like symptoms.

Arges county, where a quarantine centre will be set up, saw villagers taking to the streets in protest of the decision.

President Klaus Iohannis called for calm over social media, saying that the virus threat should be taken seriously, yet there is no reason to panic.

"State authorities have taken all precautionary measures to curb the spread of the virus in our country and limit its effects. We need to get our information from credible sources, as the spread of fake news can trigger a panic epidemic", said Klaus Iohannis in a Facebook post.

Author bio

Cristian Gherasim is a freelance journalist contributing to EUobserver, Euronews, EU Reporter, Katoikos, Von Mises Institute, and bne IntelliNews, with a particular focus on European and regional affairs.

WHO on coronavirus in Europe: 'be prepared'

The European Commission also urged EU member states to review their pandemic plans and to inform it about their healthcare capabilities in response to the outbreak.

Feature

Coronavirus: voices from a quarantined Italian town

Panic-buying, plus resentment at the media for fuelling the panic, are the paradoxical responses of residents of the Italian towns of Vicenza and Vo', where Italy's first victim of the coronavirus died last Friday.

Coronavirus: EU at high risk amid global panic

The European disease prevention agency on Monday increased the risk of coronavirus infection in the EU to "high," as the outbreak spread to 18 member states. The commission also launched a "corona response team" to work on halting the disease.

Romania: Inside the EU's worst healthcare, as virus hits

The country's lack of investment in the medical system, widespread corruption, politically-appointed hospital managers and staff shortages (as droves of doctors and nurses left to work in other European countries), severely weakened Romania's ability to deal with an emergency.

Analysis

Final steps for EU's due diligence on supply chains law

Final negotiations on the EU due diligence law begin this week. But will this law make companies embed due diligence requirements in their internal processes or incentive them to outsource their obligations to third parties?

Latest News

  1. Belgian bâtonnier on Russia: 'You can have a client you don't like'
  2. EU's proposed ethics body 'toothless', say campaigners
  3. Study: 90% of Spanish inflation 'driven by corporate profits'
  4. If Spanish economy is doing well, why is Sanchez poised to lose?
  5. EU lawyers for Russia: making 'good' money?
  6. The 'BlackRock exemption' has no place in the EU's due diligence directive
  7. Europeans don't see China as a rival, but weapons to Russia is a red line
  8. Cleaning workers urge Parliament: 'Europe should lead by example'

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations
  2. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  3. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  4. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains
  2. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  3. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us