Romania battles COVID-19 surge, vaccine misinformation

The morgue at Bucharest's University Emergency Hospital in Romania's capital is struggling to cope with an additional number of bodies that need processing amid a rapid, deadly surge of COVID-19 cases which has all but crippled the country's ailing health care system.

The bodies in the morgue lay wrapped in thick black plastic body bags, as masked hospital staff nail shut the wooden coffins of those who have died of COVID-19.

Romania, a European Union nation of around 19 million, has fully vaccinated just 39% of adults compared to the 27-nation EU average of 75%.

Over the last two months, the Eastern European country has faced a record-setting onslaught of coronavirus cases and deaths — with hundreds dying each day of COVID-19.

Dr. Maria Sajin, the head of the Bucharest hospital's morgue, told The Associated Press Monday that of the 26 bodies the morgue had dealt with that day — when 273 coronavirus deaths were confirmed nationwide - 14 had tested positive with COVID-19. Before the pandemic, Sajin said, the daily death toll rarely exceeded 10.

Sajin's frustration with Romania's low vaccination rate is palpable. She berates the lack of education surrounding the jabs, which are available for free throughout the country, and believes the shots "should be compulsory."

"When I was younger there was a very high respect for doctors," said Sajin, who struggles to hold back her tears and is bewildered that, during the pandemic, Romanian doctors have occasionally been the target of abuse. "I don't think that we should end up insulting those who try to do good."

On November 2, Romania hit a pandemic record of 591 COVID-19 deaths, more than 90% of whom had not been vaccinated, authorities said.

According to Johns Hopkins University, Romania currently has the fifth-highest coronavirus death rate in the world per 100,000 of the population at 262.

Dr. Catalin Cirstoiu, the manager at the University Emergency Hospital, told the AP that the dark situation unfolding in Romania represents a "total failure" by the authorities and that the current situation in Romania is caused by "the population's inability to comprehend that they need to get vaccinated."

Monday, more than 1,800 COVID-19 patients throughout the country are receiving intensive care treatment, more than 50,000 people with coronavirus have died during the pandemic, and more than 1.7 million have been infected.

"We (have had) 500 deaths a day, that's the population of a village by administrative standards, a village vanishes daily in Romania," Cirstoiu said. "If we count all the fatalities in Romania, we will end up with the disappearance of the population of quite a big city."

Romania's unfolding health care calamity - which prompted the World Health Organization in October to send a representative to assist with the national response - forced the authorities to impose tighter restrictions two weeks ago.

Vaccination certificates are now required for various day-to-day activities, such as going to the gym, the cinema, or a shopping center. For everyone, there is a 10 p.m. curfew.

During the summer, when Romanian authorities had all but abandoned restrictive measures, the number of COVID-19 vaccines administered daily had plummeted to around 10,000. Despite an upswing through October to record daily doses administered of 150,000, on Monday fewer than 70,000 people got jabbed, with less than 29,000 those having received their first shot.

The consequences of Romania's failed vaccine campaign are far-reaching.

On Monday, when schools resumed activity after an extended autumn break to help curb infections, more than 30% of schools were forced online because not enough staff meet the new government criteria of 60% vaccination rate to resume in-person learning.

Octavian Jurma, a Romanian physician and health statistician, called the criteria for schools opening physically "ridiculous."

"It is complete chaos since schools in the same city with the same very high incidence are randomly opened," Jurma told the AP. "But schools in some villages with zero incidences (of COVID-19) and no online connectivity — have to go online because the teachers are not vaccinated."

Despite a drop in cases since restrictions were imposed, overworked and overwhelmed medics are not optimistic about the pandemic in Romania ending soon.