Romania currently has one of the highest rates of new corona infections in the world.
On Tuesday, nearly 19,000 new infections and 561 Covid-19-related deaths were reported in the country in a single day.
There were 574 deaths on Wednesday, more than the rest of the EU over the same period.
More than 1800 people in Romania are currently dependent on intensive care treatment because of an infection with the virus.
Michael Martens
Correspondent for Southeast European countries based in Vienna.
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Since the Romanian hospitals are overloaded, Covid-19 sufferers have been referred to Hungary for treatment for days.
President Klaus Johannis thanked the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for his support last week.
Romania's President had justified the restrictions that have now been adopted with the fact that the country's hospitals are completely overburdened in the face of a "drama of devastating proportions".
According to statistics, the death rate related to the coronavirus in Romania is one of the highest in the world or even the highest in the pandemic.
Party congress almost without protective measures
To slow the spread of the corona virus, a package of measures is due to come into force on Monday. According to Romanian media reports, these include a two-week break in school classes and a night curfew for those who have not been vaccinated. At the same time, the government asked the population to get vaccinated. Less than 35 percent of Romanians are currently vaccinated against Covid-19. However, the government had not set a good example. A congress of the National Liberal Party, in which its secret boss Johannis also took part, recently took place with 5000 participants and almost no protective measures. The police imposed a fine for violating the distance rules and non-compliance with the mask requirement.
In the midst of the pandemic crisis, the government crisis in Romania is also ongoing. President Johannis seems to be counting on a new cabinet, which in parliament would probably have to rely on the tolerance of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), which is known to be susceptible to corruption. Last year, Johannis had described this party as one of Romania's instincts. On Thursday it became known that Johannis would nominate the current Defense Minister Nicolae Ciuca, a general in the Romanian army, as Prime Minister. Ciuca is considered the president's follower. The reform-oriented "Alliance to save Romania" is apparently not to be invited to the cabinet. The PSD would have to procure the missing votes for a majority in parliament. This applied at the time of its former chairman Liviu Dragnea,who was sentenced to imprisonment for abuse of office in May 2019, as a haven of corruption and systematic embezzlement of structural funds.