About 3,000 anti-vaccination protesters across Romania were gathering outside the parliament building in Bucharest when authorities announced new restrictions amid an increase in COVID-19 infections.
BOOKAREST, Romania – About 3,000 protesters against vaccinations from all over Romania gathered outside the parliament building in Bucharest on Sunday when authorities announced new restrictions amid an increase in COVID-19 infections.
It is less than six weeks since the restriction of COVID-19 was relaxed in Bucharest, but increasing infections have forced the authorities to impose stricter restrictions for a period of 14 days from Monday.
With the restrictions, pubs, restaurants, theaters, gambling venues and cafes can close indoor spaces, as the infection rate of the capital has risen over a period of 14 days to more than three cases per 1000 inhabitants. This is a ‘red scenario’ used by the authorities. as a threshold to manage both the limitations and the spread of the virus.
Many protesters waved Romanian flags and ‘freedom’ and ‘knocked down’ with the mask. A large poster reads: “Say no to forced vaccination.”
The demonstration was attended by George Simion, the leader of the AUR party of the far-right AUR in Romania, who spoke out against compulsory vaccination.
The new restrictions will mean that many schools in the capital will return to online learning, while kindergartens, primary school pupils and schools from the eighth to the twelfth grade will continue with physical attendance, and in some cases will only work at half capacity.
“We’ve been through it and we’ve survived it,” Andreea Beca, who owns a small bistro in downtown Bucharest, told The Associated Press.
“We also realized that maintaining the quality of our food is the most important measure for our customers and that they order online. We can only hope for the best,” she said.
At the same time, worse measures need to be put in place in the western city of Timisoara, a city with more than 400,000 inhabitants, which will come into quarantine after the infection rate rose by more than seven per 1,000 inhabitants.
In quarantined areas, residents are required to fill out an official form stating the reason for their movement. Across the country there is a league forced drive between 23:00 and 06:00
Many former communist countries in Eastern Europe are struggling with skepticism about vaccines, as vaccination campaigns are slowly expanding in Europe.
According to a government website, more than 1.7 million people in Romania have received a COVID-19 vaccine.
Romania – a country with more than 19 million people – has recorded more than 828,000 COVID-19 infections and 20,900 people have died.