BUCHAREST, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Moldova reached 101,203 on Wednesday, with 1,570 infections registered in the past 24 hours alone.
This was the second largest daily increase in new infections since the pandemic began. The previous peak was 1,607 new cases on Nov. 18.
Ninety-six of the newly infected persons were healthcare workers, Constantin Rymish, state secretary at the Health, Labor and Social Protection Ministry, told a press conference.
To date, 10,006 medical workers have been infected. This equals one-tenth of all infections registered in the country of 3.5 million people.
With 21 fatalities associated with the virus recorded in the past 24 hours, the death toll now stands at 2,209, the ministry said.
There are 15,205 active cases of coronavirus. The ministry said that 83,789 people have recovered or have been discharged from hospitals.
A total of 3,501 people with COVID-19 are hospitalized in specialized health units. Of them, 252 are listed in a very serious state and 45 are on ventilator.
Meanwhile, 4,725 people are in home treatment with mild symptoms of COVID-19.
The Moldavian authorities confirmed the first case of novel coronavirus on March 7 and the country's Parliament declared a state of emergency for 60 days on March 17.
The state of emergency was replaced by a one-month state of public health emergency on May 15, which had been extended several times until Sept. 30. As of Oct. 1, a state of public health emergency is in force and a "red code" alert has been declared.
The capital Chisinau, itself a "red code" city, expanded mandatory mask-wearing to all public places on Nov. 20.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), face masks should be used as part of a comprehensive strategy of measures to suppress COVID-19 transmission and save lives.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, the wearing of face masks in public has been widely accepted and enforced in Asian countries like China, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam to limit the spread of COVID-19. Enditem
