Romania: Prohibitions and restrictions imposed by the authorities under Military Ordinance no. 3/24.03.2020 in order to restrain the fast spreading of coronavirus disease among population

On March 16, 2020, the President of Romania enacted the decree declaring a state of emergency in Romania as a response to the fast spreading of COVID-19 virus.

In line with the prerogatives given to the authorities during the state of emergency, the Minister of Internal Affairs enacted Military Ordinance no. 3/24.03.2020 based on which new interdictions and restrictions were imposed with respect to the free movement of people in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19 .

We have included below a short review of the main measures implemented by this Military Ordinance:

1. Irrespective of the time interval, the movement of people outside their home is prohibited

• Exceptions are made for the following specific cases: travelling to work where not possible to work from distance, basic shopping, urgent medical assistance, movement for grounded reasons (such as childcare/ assistance of elderly people and people with disabilities, death in the family), short trips around the house / household for individual physical activity, as well as for pets’ needs, blood donation, humanitarian actions and volunteering, agricultural activities or trade of agri-food products;
• A special case is provided for the old people who have reached the age of 65, as they can leave their houses only for a part of the exempted cases described above and only during the hours of 11:00 – 13:00. They can circulate outside the aforesaid hours only in case they are travelling to work (where not possible to work from distance) and for agricultural activities.

2. Affidavit and certificates issued by the employer

The grounds for movement / circulation will be verified by the authorities based on the following deeds:

• a work card (legitimatie) or a certificate issued by the employer for proving the movement for work purposes;
• an affidavit for (i) operators performing agricultural activities and (ii) movement for any other circumstances than those specified above.

The certificate / affidavit can be presented to the authorities in digital / electronic form, using the telephone, the tablet or any other similar electronic device, a physical document not being necessary in such cases. Given the fact that the affidavit must include, among other, the signature of the author, there are two possibilities:

• the statement shall bear electronic signature or
• the statement shall bear handwritten signature and the interested person shall present to the authorities a picture / a scan of the respective statement via the chosen electronic device.

The same regime should apply to the certificate issued by the employer.

3. Supervision of people in quarantine and self-isolation

All entrants on Romanian territory after March 25, 2020 will be put in quarantine or in self-isolation.

In order to verify the compliance with the related interdictions and restrictions, the national security institutions will design specific communication and IT applications which shall allow the permanent and real time communication of the authorities with the individuals in quarantine or self-isolation.

4. Suspension of flights

In addition to Italy and Spain, all flights to and from France and Germany to and from Romania, from all airports, shall be suspended for a period of 14 days starting with March 25, 2020, 23:00 EET.

Note: Such measure is not applicable to state aircraft, transportation of goods and correspondence, humanitarian or emergency medical services as well as to non-commercial technical endorsements.

5. Documents which expire during the emergency state

The documents issued by the public authorities which expire during the emergency state may be changed within 90 days calculated as of the emergency state end date.

6. New measures applicable to economic operators

• Additional measures must be applied by public institutions and economic operators, which are required to mark the areas designated for the public / clients’ access within their respective spaces, as well as the customer-care and the sales’ area with visible indicators to guide the people to observe the minimal safety distance of 1.5 meters.
• Stricter safety measures have also been adopted for the agri-food market administrators, which must organise the sale activity so that social distancing is maintained between agricultural producers, merchants and purchasers. Agricultural producers and merchants are also obliged to wear safety masks and gloves.

7. Certain activities have been exempted from the temporary suspension

The temporary suspension of the commercial activity conducted in a shopping center which was imposed by the Military Ordinance no. 2/2020 shall no longer apply in relation to (i) the economic operators selling electronic products and home appliances if they ensure home delivery and (ii) the sale of medical optical products and services.