Anti-vaccination protest in Bucharest amid virus surge

Around a thousand anti-vaccine protesters took to the streets of Bucharest on Saturday amid a surge of COVID-19 infections.

The protesters were initially split across two separate groups, some who gathered in University Square and some in Victory Square — but both groups later converged outside Romania's parliament building.

The largely mask-less crowds honked horns, waved national flags, and chanted messages such as "Block vaccination," and "Freedom."

One placard read: "Parents, protect your children! Stop the fear!"

The protests were part of a number of planned anti-vaccination demonstrations that have taken place in the East European country in recent weeks, a movement that is strongly backed by Romania's far-right AUR party and is heavily linked to nationalism.

Health authorities said that a record number of patients were being treated in intensive care units (ICU), forcing officials to convene in the capital to try to find solutions to a potential shortage of ICU spaces.

Over the past week Romania has been recording daily its highest numbers of COVID-19 infections in three months — around 6,000 new cases a day — signalling the arrival of a third wave of the virus.