Coronavirus Chronicle in Moldova: State of Emergency Got Back

Marina DRAGALIN Against the background of the deteriorating epidemiological situation, the state of emergency in health care was reintroduced in Moldova on Monday. Experts call the situation critical and make "gloomy" forecasts when taking into account the winter holidays. As the World Health Organization emphasizes, the incidence of coronavirus at the world level remains high, despite a slight decrease in certain regions. To date, almost 65 million people have already tested positive for the COVID-19. Mortality continues rising. Another world anti-record was set yesterday and reached almost 12.5 thousand people’s deaths per day. The total infection death toll and its consequences is approaching 1.5 million. A high proportion of those infected are in serious and critical condition. The situation was admitted as critical in Moldova. More than 110 thousand people are infected, more than 30 thousand residents are under doctors’ supervision. The epidemic has already claimed the lives of 2,343 citizens. The rate of incidence is increasing: thus, the number of new cases has set "records" twice this week. The last one reaching 1717 cases was registered yesterday. Against this backdrop, from Monday, November 30, the National Emergency Public Health Commission re-imposed a health emergency and a number of restrictions in the country. Restaurants, bars and cafes are forbidden to work from 22:00 to 07:00, the activities of night clubs are completely stopped. Sports competitions, scientific conferences and academic competitions that require physical presence got prohibited as well. Cinemas, theaters and concert halls are closed. It is not allowed to spend time in parks and gather in groups of more than three people, and people over 63 can only leave the house to buy food or medicine. These measures will be in effect until mid-January next year. Despite the fact that the return to emergency situations will again seriously hit the economy, the current epidemiological situation requires tough measures. The health care system is on the brink; hospitals, once converted to coronavirus centers no longer have free beds. Doctors confirm that there are patients with serious cases of COVID-19 who are being treated at home due to lack of hospital beds. Commenting on the situation, former Health Minister Ala Nemerenco noted that "the authorities have lost control over the infection and a few days ago the great madness began." “Every service and every patient are doing the best they can. Most are treated at home advised by doctors with experience in COVID treating. These people are not even part of the statistics. The monitoring that is carried out is too weak, no one cares about contacts. The number of hospital beds has reached its limit. Annoyed, tired medical staff, panicked patients,” Nemerenco described the situation. As the current Minister of Health, Labor and Social Protection Viorica Dumbreveanu admited, a pandemic escalation is possible in the context of winter holidays. “If we do not take any measures to prevent the COVID-19 infection spread, the forecasts can be gloomy in the context of the upcoming winter holidays, because we are talking about groups of people gathering and coming together,” Dumbraveanu stressed. She also pledged that the hospitals capacity to treat severe of COVID-19 cases could be increased: “The COVID Center has 200 beds for very severe cases when we are out of beds in the hospital system. Also, by the end of the week, 130 more beds will be used in the City Hospital of Phthisiopulmonology another 80 in the psychiatric hospital." However, the beds is not the only problem. The country lacks medical personnel. The widely COVID-19 spreading has led to the use of all reserves of the medical workforce, including students. “Unfortunately, there is a limit when expanding the number of beds, and it is mainly related to the lack of medical staff. We have nowhere to get other personnel from, except the one that we have. We have mobilized both medical students and residents, and all reserves. As to the place, we can still find it. We can find additional hospital beds, equipment but no people,” Prime Minister Ion Chicu commented on the situation. Under these conditions, access to the vaccine would greatly facilitate the situation. However, according to the same Chicu, the vaccine is to arrive in Moldova as early as Easter. The authorities have asked several EU countries and Russia to purchase vaccines. “There are about eight vaccines from different manufacturers: Russian, Chinese, American. The Republic of Moldova is quietly waiting for its turn for each of them. We reached out to the Russians and through the global delivery mechanism, but we haven't ordered anything yet. This is currently not possible, since nothing is being yet produced,” Chicu said. Yesterday, the Minister of Health commented on government's plans to purchase vaccines against coronavirus. “I would like to acknowledge the COVAX platform, that Moldova joined in August 2020 by making a request to provide Moldova with a COVID vaccine. 20% of the population will receive the COVID vaccine for free. We are talking about the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, 20% are those 700 thousand people we refer to as a risk group: medical workers, law enforcement officials, especially the Ministry of Internal Affairs, education systems, people who suffer from chronic diseases", - Viorica Dumbraveanu stated. The fact that Moldovan authorities have decided to get the state of emergency back shows how disappointing the forecasts for the coming months are. Obviously, the Christmas and New Year holidays will contribute to the coronavirus statistics. We can only hope for the population’s conscientiousness, otherwise the health care system will definitely not withstand the epidemiological pressure.