COVID-19 evaluation center to continue activity, pandemic not over (Health Minister Rafila)

The Health Minister, Alexandru Rafila, stated, on Wednesday, that the activity of the COVID-19 evaluation centers will continue in the coming period, mentioning that the pandemic is not over and there is still an important number of cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection, Agerpres reports.

"As regards the perspectives of developing specialty outpatient medicine, obviously it should constitute a concern. 30 such centers are included also in the PNRR [National Recovery and Resilience Plan] to be rehabilitated and outfitted, obviously that we will continue on this project because decreasing pressure on hospital medical assistance is the logical demarche also in what regards controlling costs in the healthcare system," said Rafila, in an online debate.

He said that the centers for patient recovery are also necessary after they've had the disease, adding that telemedicine remains available also after the conclusion of the state of alert.

"Obviously that efforts to develop telemedicine will continue, this is the general trend, it does not regard only crisis situation management, such as the pandemic. Obviously, the development of telemedicine services also answers to a need. We see that we have a crisis of personnel specialized in healthcare and things haven't started today and, obviously, for some types of pathologies consultations via telemedicine and other apps that monitor the health status are obviously useful and need to enter the routine of the medical practice, be it family medicine, or outpatient medical assistance. This does not mean, on the other hand, that we're renouncing the interaction of the doctor with the patient. (...) We must combine the two possibilities and adapt depending on context," Rafila added.