Romania reports a record daily number of 591 COVID-19 deaths amid a persistently low vaccination rate and a wave of coronavirus infections that has overwhelmed the country’s ailing health care system.
Only 37 percent of adults in Romania, a European Union member with around 19 million people, have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, compared to an EU average of 75%.
Within the 27-nation EU, only Bulgaria has a smaller share of its population vaccinated.
Romanian authorities say that 541 of the 591 people who had died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours were unvaccinated.
More than 1,800 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care as of this evening.
The unfolding disaster has prompted authorities to impose tighter restrictions starting last week.
Vaccination certificates are required for many day-to-day activities, such as going to the gym, the cinema or a shopping mall.
Bulgaria, where 25% of adults have been fully vaccinated, also reports its highest daily pandemic death toll today.
Of the 310 who died over the past 24 hours, more than 90% were unvaccinated, say authorities.
Bulgarian Health Minister Stoycho Katsarov calls the situation “a national disaster.”
Source: AP via TOI