A Romanian maternity unit was being investigated on Tuesday after 10 newborns tested positive for the novel coronavirus, with the suspicion they contracted the virus from healthcare staff.
“The mothers tested negative, but the babies tested positive so we have to consider their contacts with medical staff,” Health Minister Nelu Tataru said in an interview with the Antena 3 TV station late on Monday. The babies have no symptoms and all but one of them, together with their mothers, have gone into self-isolation at home. Tataru pointed to the “failures in the activities of both maternity officials and the local public health directorate (DSP)” and promised severe measures if necessary. Lack of protective gear for the staff “For the past two days I have felt like I am living in a horror film,” one of the mothers told the local pressalert.ro website. “The staff were not wearing masks,” she said, adding that the mothers had heard on Wednesday through unofficial channels that there was a case of coronavirus in the hospital. “On Thursday the hospital was disinfected with us inside,” she said.