The National Extraordinary Public Health Commission will examine a draft decision concerning the introduction of the obligation to have a COVID-19 certifcate regardless of the alert level in the locality. Minister of Health Ala Nemerenco said such a restriction is necessary given the spreading of the Omicron variant. According to the official, the rules of crossing the state border will also be made harsher for the period of the winter holidays, IPN reports.
The minister said the relatively low number of new cases of COVID-19 in the recent past should not make the citizens and the authorities relax. The experience of the states facing Omicron shows Moldova should get ready for a new wave of infections. The possibility of introducing the obligation to have a COVID-19 certificate in all the crowded places is being considered and is now discussed with the business community.
“The specialists of the National Public Health Agency put forward a draft decision concerning the necessity of having COVID-19 certificates regardless of the alert level in the area, the district to the National Extraordinary Public Health Commission. I refer to the green, yellow or orange alert levels. I do not even mention the red alert as a lot of restrictions are applied under such an alert level. The COVID certificates could be asked when entering a number of places and greater attention should be devoted to the way in which the rules are observed. The public transport, primarily in the rush hour, the public places where many people come together and the public eating places remain the largest hotbeds,” Ala Nemerenco stated in the talk show “Moldova Live” on the public TV channel M1.
Ala Nemerenco said the Republic of Moldova should learn from the experience of other states in dealing with Omicron. Rapid tests could be done right at the Chisinau International Airport for those who return from countries with a high risk of infection.
“We are anticipating a new wave. The developments around us show this wave already hit countries in Europe and we will not be able to avoid it. A lot of countries introduced stricter entry rules even for their citizens, not only for foreigners. Romania also introduced the PCR test, besides the vaccine, for those who come from unsafe areas. We could propose doing tests for those who come from countries with a higher number of cases of infection with Omicron at the airport during the winter holidays as we have many holidays in the period. It is more problematic to introduce such a measure at terrestrial border crossing points as they are many in number and it is difficult to set up testing units there,” stated Ala Nemerenco.
According to the Ministry of Health, 456 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Moldova on December 14. Of all the hospitalized patients, 168 are in a very serious state and 36 of them were put on a ventilator. A number of 21 deaths from COVID-19 were reported yesterday.
