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Review
. 2020 Jul 10:8:344.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.00344. eCollection 2020.

The Successes and Failures of the Initial COVID-19 Pandemic Response in Romania

Stefan Dascalu  1   2
Affiliations
Review

The Successes and Failures of the Initial COVID-19 Pandemic Response in Romania

Stefan Dascalu. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries around the world varied in the strength and timeliness of their responses. In Romania, specific challenges were faced with regards to managing the spread and limiting the impact of the disease, ranging from healthcare infrastructure to demographic and sociocultural aspects. As the country has a sizeable diaspora, major difficulties were faced when large numbers of individuals from highly affected areas returned to Romania. However, the fast implementation of control measures successfully averted a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases. This delayed the overburdening of an already challenged healthcare system during the initial phases of the epidemic. Furthermore, early control was facilitated by the exploitation of communication channels that penetrated all layers of society, from ordinary citizens to governmental authorities and high-ranking religious figures. The management of the COVID-19 crisis in Romania illustrates the importance of a fast initial response which takes into account the role played by sociocultural aspects in the context of an epidemic. As the challenges faced by Romania are not unique, these results could inform future public health strategies worldwide.

Keywords: COVID-19; Romania; coronavirus; diaspora; epidemic; pandemic; public health; sociocultural.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The Romanian COVID-19 epidemic from 27th February to 1st June 2020. The daily number of new confirmed infections is shown in red and the total number of cases (log scale) is displayed in yellow. Notable governmental actions with regards to the epidemic are shown in blue. The figure was created using data from the daily reports released by the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs (available in Supplementary Table 1).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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