Bucharest, March 30, (dpa/GNA) – Thousands of people demonstrated in Romania on Monday evening against the precautionary measures that have been ordered to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
Protests took place in the capital Bucharest and in at least 17 other cities. The people followed a call by the new ultra-nationalist Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) party, which has also been represented in parliament since the election in December 2020.
Slogans against a “medical dictatorship” were omnipresent.
In Bucharest, demonstrators filled the square in front of the seat of government, where they lit firecrackers, the channel Digi24.ro reported.
In the eastern Romanian city of Galati demonstrators threw stones and fireworks at police officers, the Romanian news agency Mediafax reported.
In the industrial city of Pitesti, 100 kilometres north of Bucharest, demonstrators also shouted xenophobic slogans against ethnic Hungarians living in Romania, the news portal g4media.ro reported.
In Romania, the 14-day incidence rate of new infections in the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic was 363.68 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants.
After a period of relative relief in February, the intensive care units are again almost at capacity. All-day curfews are in place in many localities.
Depending on the incidence rate, tougher or milder restrictions apply locally.
GNA