Romania is one of the countries that have responded promptly to Italy’s call for help with the coronavirus outbreak. On April 7, a team of 10 Romanian doctors and 5 nurses arrived in Italy to help their Italian colleagues fight the pandemic.
The Romanian medical staff of volunteered to go to Italy, have been in Lecco for 14 days, 50km from Milan, one of the worst hit areas in the country, and they should soon successfully complete their mission.
The assistance was coordinated by the Civil Protection Mechanism of the European Union.
“We left our families at home, but we come here to help the European Union family,” a member of the Romanian medical staff said.
“History teaches us that solidarity between peoples is invaluable,” Italian Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio tweeted.
La storia ci insegna che la solidarietà tra popoli ha un valore inestimabile.
Come annunciato ieri sono arrivati oggi in Italia 11 medici e 7 infermieri dalla Romania per dare supporto ai nostri ospedali.
Multumesc. 🇮🇹🇷🇴 pic.twitter.com/HyxCpDgG4o
— Luigi Di Maio (@luigidimaio) April 7, 2020
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen also praised Romania for the solidarity shown within the union.
Doctors and nurses from Romania treat coronavirus patients in Italy to help the European Union family. This is #EUSolidarity in action. #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/g1JhWdhchi
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) April 8, 2020
With a population of over 19 million, Romania had 4,417 identified cases of coronavirus, and 197 deaths as of April 7.
Romanians are the largest immigrant group in Italy, totaling over 1.2 million.
Italy ranks third in the worlds with 24,648 coronavirus-related deaths to date.
Aid in different forms was send to Italy by many countries worldwide after their call for help, and several of them also sent medical teams: Albania has sent 90 doctors and nurses, China has pledged to send 300, Cuba has sent 52, Libya has pledged 30, Norway has sent 19, Poland 15, Romania 15 Russia 120, Tunisia 7, and Ukraine 20.
