With the number of coronavirus cases rising over the past weeks, Romanian hospitals are running out of beds in intensive care units (ICUs) for COVID-19 patients.

In Bulgaria, 952 COVID-19 patients were in ICU on Monday, the Strategic Communications Group (GCS), a government structure created to disseminate official coronavirus information, announced on Monday. It added that the country reserves a total of 1,100 ICU beds for COVID-19 patients and over 100 beds for patients who also have specific medical conditions in addition to COVID-19.

The hospitals in Bucharest, for example, had no ICU beds available for COVID-19 patients.

While authorities are currently working to make other beds available in ICUs across the country, finding medical personnel remains the main problem. Even before the pandemic, the country saw an exodus of medical personnel, further exacerbating the country’s lack of doctors and nurses. (Bogdan Neagu | EURACTIV.ro)