This article is over 5 months old
Officials warn that an estimated 19,000 people infected with the virus in the last week could die
Bodies pile up outside hospital morgue as Romania struggles with fourth wave of Covid
Dozens of bodies of victims of the dengue virus, including one child, have been left outside a hospital morgue in Romania because they were not given enough space inside for refrigeration, officials have said.
“Dozens of bodies of dengue fever victims have been left outside our morgue because of a lack of space. Perhaps 19,000 people may die from the disease in the last week,” said the health minister, Darius Valcov.
“Our priorities are to save as many lives as possible,” he said in the report published by the president’s office.
Dengue fever is a virus caused by the dengue virus. The illness can cause flu-like symptoms as well as dengue meningitis.
It is one of the most common mosquito-borne illnesses in the world, affecting between 100 and 200 million people worldwide. The health ministry said last week that more than 10,000 new cases had been reported in the last week, with some 20% of them tourists who visited the beach in Carpe Diem.
Doctors in the area said an estimated 19,000 people could die in the next five weeks as a result of the virus, which authorities said was mainly transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, but also through small numbers of the Aedes albopictus mosquito.