Coronavirus Chronicle in Moldova: Leading the Second Pandemic Wave

Marina DRAGALIN Moldova continues to set anti-records for the number of new COVID-19 infection cases The new type of coronavirus infection spread shows a steady increase in the number of cases and deaths from COVID-19 around the world. To date, more than 36.7 million people tested positive for coronavirus; out of them more than a million have died. The World Health Organization has registered a record increase in new cases over the past day - almost 340 thousand. Commenting on the situation, WHO spokesman Melita Vujnovic notes: "The time has come when we all must learn to live with this virus and at the same time try to find a way to keep our societies as open as possible and as quickly as possible break any chains of virus transmission and control the infection." In her opinion, introducing different levels of restrictions is the fastest way to achieve a plateau while number of cases rapidly increases and hospitals risk getting overload. At the same time, the world community has not yet come to a consensus about the benefits of total lockdowns. For example, a number of experts called for abandoning restrictive measures in order to develop collective immunity. Scientists insist that the practice of widespread restrictions bears devastating short- and long-term effects on public health. On the other hand, this position’s critics remind that those who overcame coronavirus often acquire chronic health problems. They also point to the so-called "long COVID", when after initially having mild symptoms, the person keeps feeling the disease presence for several months. Economic analysts support as well refraining from harsh and severe restrictive measures. The pandemic is projected to cost the global economy $ 7 trillion by the end of 2021. According to the World Bank, due to COVID-19 the world economy has plunged into its deepest recession over the last 80 years. “Economic growth will resume in 2021 but the pace of economic recovery remains highly uncertain. If the pandemic develops further then imposing restrictions for a long period will be necessary, and / probably that will lead to increased geopolitical tensions thus, the recovery process might be slower than expected,” the World Bank's COVID-19 and Human Capital report said. The World Bank also predicted a 150 million increase in the number of extremely poor people due to COVID-19 by next year. For the first time over the past 20 years, extreme poverty will rise in the world. Moreover, the majority of “new poor people” will appear in countries where the poor percentage is already being high. The World Bank has a relatively good forecast for our country. Moldova was named one of the countries with the best GDP growth prospects in 2021 - 3.5%. The WB experts note that even with a deteriorating situation, the Moldovan economy will grow, but at a slower pace. Nevertheless, such optimistic indicators do not negate the fact that the Moldovan economy will actually grow from the bottom, where it has been during the past few years, and especially this year. In the end, it was the difficult economic situation that forced the authorities to forget about the resumption of large-scale closings and restrictions, put in place this spring. Therefore, despite the daily anti-records, almost 60 thousand cases and 1.5 thousand deaths, there are no fundamental changes in the current COVID-19 containment mechanism. Moldova continues, by inertia, to expand the “coronavirus” bed fund at the expense of other departments, to test foreign drugs, put more and more citizens on lung ventilators, and test the medical personnel to the limit. At the same time, defining specific measures to combat COVID-19 is now under the responsibility of local authorities, which will act depending on the current epidemiological situation in each region. It is possible that granting additional powers to municipal authorities will really help cope more effectively with the corona-crisis autumn wave. However, some consider this decision of the Public Health Emergency Commission to divide the districts of Moldova into yellow, orange and red zones as Chisinau’s attempt to get rid of unnecessary trouble and responsibility. “In fact, the central authorities shifted responsibility and even blame for their lack of professionalism onto the local authorities, when the number of daily infections exceeded 1000 cases per day. That is, if a decision is made to place people under lockdown again, which is an unpopular measure perceived by people, frankly, with horror, then the local authorities will fall under fire of popular indignation,” journalist Mihail Sircheli says. It should be recognized that the second coronavirus wave, which the population was frightened with throughout the summer, is indeed here and, most likely, has completely bewildered the country’s leadership. The number of daily registered infection cases is constantly increasing, setting new records every week, the number of active patients, including those in serious condition, is growing, beds and medical staff are not enough. At the same time, it is unclear when and even from where to expect the long-awaited vaccine (apparently, the Moldovan authorities’ plan “A”, “B” and “C”). In these conditions, we can only hope that the current indicators are peak, and soon the coronavirus will again start to recede from Moldova. But there is little hope for that.