Romanians protest mandatory use of masks in school

Several hundred Romanians, including many families with young children, protested on Saturday in country’s capital against measures to curb spre of coronavirus, especially social distancing and mandatory use of masks in schools.

Like or countries in Europe, number of new virus cases has spiked in recent days in Romania, with a record 1,713 cases earlier this week and 1,333 more on Saturday.

In all, Romania has registered 111,550 cases of COVID-19, with 4,402 confirmed deaths.

Some 2.8 million Romanian schoolchildren began ir acemic year on Monday, with classes being held in classrooms, online or a combination of two, depending on intensity of pandemic in a given region.

Desks have to be at least one metre apart, masks must be worn by students and teachers at primary school level or higher and classrooms are disinfected daily.

Protesters at Bucharest’s University Square chanted against President Klaus Iohannis and Prime Minister Ludovic Orban and drew parallels between protective measures against pandemic and communist and Nazi regimes.

One of speakers at rally compared measures to torture of dissidents during communism.

A large sign carried by a protester included a recent quote from Iohannis about safety measures - “Kids easily get used to unpleasant things” - above a photograph of children behind barbed-wire fences at a concentration camp.

Protesters also highlighted symbolism of holding rally at University Square, where protests in 1989 against dictator Nicolae Ceausescu led to fall of his communist regime.

Only police and members of media wore masks at event, where participants, many carrying Romanian flags, did t respect social distancing rules, eir.

(Im Credit Pixabay)