The epidemiological situation regarding the spread of COVID-19 has improved significantly in Romania, while worsening in the rest of the European Union and European Economic Area, according to the latest epidemiological map on the spread of COVID-19 by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
Romania stands out on the map as the situation there has improved for a second week, with most districts in the country passing from the red to the orange category.
North-eastern and south-western Romania, which were in the orange category last week, are now considered safe zones and are in the green category.
Cyprus remains in the deep red category for another week, along with the majority of the EU/EEA states.
The ECDC map does not record the number of deaths or hospitalisation, or the levels of vaccination, but only the number of new cases per 100 thousand people over the past 14 days. The map also does not account for cases caused by the Omicron variant.
Europe remains in the deep red, with the exception of a few areas where there has been limited improvement or worsening of the epidemiological situation. Iceland, Estonia and Latvia have passed from the deep red to the red category, while the situation has also improved in south-west Bulgaria.
The following countries remain in the deep red category either in their entirety or in most regions: Lithuania, Poland (with a small improvement in the east), Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, France (with a worsening of the situation in Brittany and central France), Portugal, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia, Austria, Liechtenstein, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece and Cyprus.
The epidemiological situation is mixed but has worsened in Spain (where no region is orange any longer while more areas are in the deep red), as well as in Sweden and Italy (which, however, remains the only country beyond Romania with orange areas).
Orange zone areas are defined as the areas where the 14-day cumulative COVID-19 case notification rate is below 50 and the test positivity rate of tests for COVID-19 infection is 4% or more, or the 14-day cumulative COVID-19 case notification rate is between 50 and 75 and the test positivity rate is 1% or more, or the 14-day cumulative COVID-19 case notification rate is between 75 and 200 and the test positivity rate is lower than 4%.
Red zone areas are defined as the areas where the 14-day cumulative COVID-19 case notification rate ranges from 75 to 200 and the test positivity rate of tests for COVID-19 infection is 4% or more, or the 14-day cumulative COVID-19 case notification rate is more than 200 but less than 500 (when the cumulative rate exceeds 500 the area enters the “deep red” zone).
ECDC publishes relevant maps and data every Thursday, in support of the Council recommendation on a coordinated approach to the restriction of free movement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The maps are based on data reported by the Member States to the European Surveillance System (TESSy) by midnight on Tuesday.
