Coronavirus Chronicle in Moldova: Autumn Aggravation

Marina DRAGALIN This week, Moldova set another anti-record in new infection’s number and daily deaths from COVID-19. However, there is no rush to re-enter the Emergency. The new type of coronavirus infection pandemic continues to gradually enter the so-called "Second wave" phase. The number of new detected per day contaminations reached new peak values and confidently moved over 300 thousand in September. Today, nearly 32.5 million people are COVID-19 ill. The infection claimed the lives of nearly one million people. Recently, new coronavirus contamination peak rates have been recorded. Record growth is observed in the USA, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Iran, Czech Republic, Poland, and the Netherlands. Ukraine and Canada have already officially announced getting through the second wave of pandemic. Against this background, the situation with coronavirus became the topic of discussion at the UN Security Council meeting as part of General Assembly High-Level Week. Commenting on the current figures, Secretary General António Guterres noted that humanity has failed passing the new coronavirus pandemic test, whose death toll is already approaching a million. “The pandemic is a clear test of international cooperation – a test we have essentially failed.  It has killed nearly one million people around the world, infected over 30 million, and remains largely out of control This was the result of a lack of global preparedness, cooperation, unity and solidarity.  The coronavirus is casting a dark shadow across the world” the UN High Representative said. Another problem closely related to COVID, the UN called being the infodemic which is overabundance of information, including "deliberate attempts to spread false information aimed at disrupting the public health response and promote alternative group or individual goals." According to Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization, fakes about COVID can be as dangerous as the virus itself. “As soon as the coronavirus spread around the world, rumors, false information and misinformation immediately appeared. And they can be just as dangerous. Inaccurate information has increased stigma, which is becoming a barrier to providing assistance to those who need it,” the head of WHO said. This week, the spread of the disease has crossed another threshold in Moldova. On Wednesday, a new anti-record got registered - 786 new cases per day. Almost 49 thousand coronavirus contaminations have been confirmed in the country, of which more than 11 thousand are being active. Another 25 thousand residents of the republic are under suspicion of being carrier. The infection has already killed 1252 people. There is a large number of patients in serious condition who are connected to mechanical ventilation devices. Despite all the protective measures taken, about 5-10% infection cases still occur among medical personnel. Commenting on the new (anti) records, President Igor Dodon claimed he would not like introducing State of Emergency in Moldova. “This decision can only be made by the parliament if necessary. The State of Emergency is declared by a legislature decree. If the deputies deem it expedient to come up with such an initiative, and it is adopted by a vote in parliament, then the State of Emergency will be introduced, as it was in March, April, May. " He stressed that it is impossible to "stop everything related to the economy" again and that he "would not want to force people staying in their homes again." At the same time, authorities decided to make certain changes in the process of managing the epidemiological crisis. Thus, according to the Emergency National Commission of Public Health latest decision, the risk of COVID-19 transmission will every two weeks be assessed in each district separately. This will allow flexible and local changes in the nature of measures taken. Currently, the country is allowed to hold exhibitions, festivals and fairs, subject to Instructions on measures for COVID prevention and infection control. Indoor cultural events are expected to resume soon. At the same time, restrictive measures and indulgences can be revised depending on the epidemiological situation development. Considering the current general situation in Moldova and in Europe, the European Commission came up with an initiative to provide Moldova with a grant of 9 million euros to overcome the coronavirus crisis. The government has already approved the start of negotiations. Most of the funds will be used for supporting the fairly exhausted health care system: in particular, by means of purchasing equipment for medical centers and laboratories. Obviously, there is no need to talk about controllability of coronavirus situation in Moldova. The epidemiological crisis continues and it seems to only gaining momentum. We can just hope that the new flexible decision-making system will help regain control over the situation and, as far as possible, safely pass through the Coronacrisis’ second wave.