Biology

We all want to return to normal, and vaccination is the fastest way to get rid of the pandemic, Prime Minister Florin Citu said on Wednesday, announcing that the COVID-19 immunisation campaign will speed up. "Over 3,000,000 doses of vaccine administered so far! The good news is that 1 million people have already acquired full immunity from the two doses.

An area of pristine rainforest the size of the Netherlands was burned or hacked down last year, as the destruction of the planet's tropical forests accelerated despite a global economic slowdown, according to research on March 31.

Romania's COVID-19 caseload increased by 6,651 in the past 24 hours following more than 41,000 national tests performed; this takes the total number of infected persons to 919,794, the Strategic Communication Group (GCS) reported today. These are all cases that have not previously had a positive test, the GCS states. As many as 825,208 patients had been declared cured as of today.

Bulgaria will have to make some extraordinary effort in the coming months if it wants to protect its population from the coronavirus through vaccination.

 Current data show that Boyko Borissov's government has bought such a small number of doses that no more than 36% of Bulgarians could receive two doses at the end of June.

These shocking images show the devastating impact throwaway facemasks are having on the health of our oceans after washing up among coral reefs in a diver's paradise.

The coronavirus pandemic has sparked a surge in pollution, adding to the glut of plastic waste that is already threatening marine life with masks floating like jellyfish and waterlogged gloves scattered across seabeds.

Today we mark the World Sleep Day. Studies over the past year have shown the divergent negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on sleep quality. These data are particularly worrying given the relationship between sleep and immunity.

Dr. Petar Chipev - specialist in sleep medicine at the European Society for Sleep Research and pulmonologist commented on BNR:

The manager of the Timisoara County Hospital, Dr. Raul Patrascu, announced on Thursday that the unit will open the first vaccination center in Romania that will operate non-stop, and it should become operational on March 23. The center will have four flows per day and per night, so that the vaccination capacity, in 24 hours, will be 480 people.

A new coronavirus variant is raising concerns in France as regular PCR-tests are unable to detect the mutation, health officials stated during a press conference on Tuesday.

Social Democrat deputy, doctor Alexandru Rafila, said today that in order to hold realistic hopes to return to normal at the end of September, Romania needs to rapidly increase the vaccination pace from 50,000 to 100,000 doses daily, pointing out that in terms of the vaccine rollout performance, Romania has slipped from the 3rd to the 19th position among EU countries.

A number of 2,972 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 have been registered in the last 24 hours, following over 12,000 tests, the Strategic Communication Group (GCS) informed on Monday. These are cases that have not previously tested positive, says GCS. As of Monday, 862,681 cases of people infected with the novel coronavirus have been confirmed in Romania.