The National Extraordinary Commission on Thursday will introduce new coronavirus rules, including the requirement for people to have a Covid certificate (proof of vaccination, negative test or recovery) in all non-essential enclosed spaces, announced Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița.

“Discussions are ongoing about what the essential services will be that will not require a Covid certificate. Everywhere else it will be mandatory”, she told reporters.

The authorities confirmed there is community transmission in Moldova of the highly contagious omicron variant, which is expected to drive the case count sharply up. “The safety measures based on the (current) alert system are not enough anymore”, said Gavrilița.

She added that the Government has been shifted to remote work, with instructions that 70% of staff at governmental agencies follow suit.