Iohannis: I requested Gov't monthly bonus for personnel working with COVID-19 patients

President Klaus Iohannis stated on Thursday that he requested the Executive identify sufficient European funds in order to pay a monthly bonus to the doctors and medical staff that are working with patients infected with COVID-19. In this sense, the head of state mentioned "a consistent bonus, of several hundred euro per month". He spoke before a videoconference with Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, Health Minister Nelu Tataru, Suceava County Prefect Alexandru Moldovan, and representatives of the local institutions about the epidemiological situation in Suceava. "I requested today the Government identify sufficient European funds in order to pay a monthly bonus to doctors and medical staff that are working with COVID patients. And I am speaking here of a consistent bonus, of several hundred euro per month. I believe a sum of 500 euro per month for the doctors and medical staff that are working with COVID patients would be an honorable bonus," the President emphasized. He underlined that employees in the medical system are the "line of defence against the pandemic" and are in a "major stress" situation. "The medical staff, our doctors, are our line of defence against the epidemic. We trust them, we put our hopes in them, but we need to be very aware that for them it's a major stress situation, it's an additional hazard they are exposing themselves to, we have high expectations of them and then, in consequence, I believe it's fair to recognize this situation and recognize, obviously, that there is need for a bit more than pretty words," said Iohannis.AGERPRES(RO - author: Oana Ghita, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Razvan-Adrian Pandea, editor: Maria Voican)