Coronavirus Situation In Romania

I've been planning to write about the topic as everyone is covering it, besides it's the most important at the moment but life is keeping me busy and had no time to do a proper post till now.

I saw a Travelfeed.io initiative posted by @invisusmundi and I thought it's time to write the post, show you what's the situation looks like in Transylvania, Romania.

Coronavirus Situation In Romania

According to a report issued at 10 am this morning, there are 246 confirmed cases in Romania so far. Patients age ranges between 1 and 72. 19 of those 246 cases has already been cured and let home.

3.441 people are quarantined and some, at the beginning, were stupid enough to not respect the quarantine. Those are facing charges now. Another 23.679 people are isolated and monitored at home.

There are special places set up for patients infected or suspected of being infected with covid-19 in each county. In my county there are 4 confirmed cases so far but I believe the number will rise.

Schools, universities and any kind of educational units were already closed last week or the week before, can't remember exactly, and will remain closed till almost the end of April. This can change, the lockdown can be extended in case it is needed.

Hospitals are in lockdown, only critical patients and emergencies are treated. There's a big tent set up in the courtyard of the hospital, that's the triage area. My dad has an appointment for surgery on the 27th of March, that will not happen and I guess he's now on a waiting list till the situation goes back to normal, whenever that may be. He needs to go in for some medical checkup till Friday, but it's not sure he's going to be let in. We'll see.

Public transportation is limited, buses have weekend schedule, which means there are less.

Cinemas, theaters are closed and any form of gathering that means more than 50 people is forbidden. Sport events are cancelled as well.

Citizens that are abroad right now are urged to return home asap. Borders are closed by the way.

Shops and Supermarkets

Pharmacies are open, but there is a sigh on the door, letting people know only one or two are allowed in at the same time and they need to keep a distance of 1 - 2 m between them.

Gloves, masks and hand sanitizers are missing, along with medical alcohol. Obviously you can't find any! The other day I saw medical alcohol being brought to the pharmacy but I needed to be somewhere and had no time to wait in line and I thought I'd buy one when I return. It took me 1 hour to return and I was told there was no alcohol, they ran out. That was a lie, of course.

Grocery shops, supermarkets are open but they are letting in only a few people at once to avoid crowds.

This photo was taken yesterday, people waiting in line at the supermarket. Doors are closed, the motion sensor is deactivated and the door is opened from inside, when there's room for another batch. Police is standing outside, making sure everything goes smoothly.

This photo was taken on Monday, people staying in line at the cable company office. They are respecting the 1m requirement (not that this is going to save them), but I don't understand them, really. This is the 21th century, bills can be paid online the rest doesn't count at the moment. Maybe elderly people don't have internet or help but the others?

This is the section where flour and semolina should be piled up. These two products are missing for days now. Bread is considered staple food in my country. Lucky me I got 10 kg spelt flour in September as a gift from someone who's growing spelt, now I have plenty. Semolina however is another story. I'm using it quite often and wasn't prepared for a shortage. Today I got lucky. Went in a grocery store, that is more like a warehouse as far as the shelves are concerned. The space where flour and semolina is usually stored was empty, of course, but on the top shelf I spotted two boxes of semolina. Shopkeepers are busy filling up the store all the time and those boxes were forgotten. So now I have three packs. The guy who I asked to help me get those down, filled the shelves with the packs but I bet in 30 minutes those were gone.

Yeast is another item missing for days. It's logical as when the news broke, people were rushing to the stores to buy what is necessary and flour and yeast were among the most sought after products. If you have these, you can make bread at home. I'm usually using fresh yeast but I'm ok with dry yeast as well, it's just that there's none in the grocery stores at the moment. I have 3 packs at home, but in case I need more, I can make yeast myself.

This is the place where my favorite toilet paper is stored, it's empty for days now. Toilet paper is mainly missing, or you can buy the top quality ones at a high price or the very cheap ones, if you're lucky.

The situation is not so desperate right now but I believe it's going to be worth once some stocks ran out.

Romania has been some crazy periods during communism, people know what it means not to have the basics, are prone to overreaction and I'm sure they are buying more than it's needed. I'm not going to pile up stocks, bought what I need and that's all.

It's very unpleasant as our plans (and other's) got messed up for an indefinite time but let's stay positive and hope it's going to be over in a month or two. Am I optimistic? I don't know but we must stay positive.

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