The Minister of Health made a very important last-minute announcement regarding schools throughout Romania, as well as the 5th wave, Alexandru Rafila, conveying to parents from all over the country that he is not a supporter of closing educational institutions, so it is unlikely that this happens.
The Minister of Health has a close relationship with Sorin Cimpeanu, so he was expected to support keeping schools open even if the number of new cases will be high so that students benefit from continuity when it comes to the educational act.
"We will discuss, I would not like to make assessments of this kind now, I am a supporter of keeping schools open. You see that there are also countries that currently have a high incidence of this infection and keep schools open. You always have to weigh the impact on public health, of the opening of schools, but also on the health of children.
Let's not forget that the health of the children of this generation is our responsibility to the same extent as it is, or maybe even greater than it is, related to the impact on public health. One is to close the schools for short periods of time, another is to keep them closed for months and affect not only the education process, but also the children's health, the way of development.
The consequences of long-term closures, and unfortunately we experienced this scenario in Romania, could be felt for years. We will discuss with all colleagues from the health area, from the education area, so that we can make balanced decisions. This is why we want to make a joint effort.
The common effort will be translated by slowing down the transmission, by the possibility of the education system to take over the cases, and by the functioning, I think this is an extremely important thing, as close as possible to normal of the whole society, including the activity in schools in Romania.
We still need a little more time to have a clear vision of the evolution of this disease. We have to see if the evolution is different in the populations vaccinated in a high percentage, or in the populations vaccinated in a lower percentage, speaking of the severity of the cases. Anyway, even if the percentage of people hospitalized is lower, if you have a large number of cases, then there is a danger of blocking the health system."
