Prime Minister Florin Citu on Monday said he had proposed that students return to school after carrying out non-invasive tests on SARS-CoV-2 infection, stressing that it is up to the National Institute of Public Health (INSP) to include saliva tests in the methodology.
"I am the one who proposed the return to school after this test is done. Non-invasive tests were my proposal. I made this proposal after talking to several specialists who told me very clearly that there is no difference, but it's true, the problem in Romania is that they are not yet in the INSP methodology and here I think it is up to INSP to include them in the methodology, they are used as a method pretty much everywhere in the world," explained Citu in a press conference at the Victoria Palace, asked about the use of saliva tests.
Health Minister Vlad Voiculescu said that the ministry does not have the legal basis for the purchase of rapid tests for schools, and the Secretary of State in Health Ministry Andreea Moldovan added that saliva tests are not included in the INSP working methodology.
The Minister of Education, Sorin Cimpeanu, said that in eight weeks of school, starting on 8 February, less than 2 pct of the total number of rapid antigen tests were made available in schools, which is a "major failure".