I am monitoring the Romanian research on COVID-19, and below you will find a subjective selection of those that I think have good communication and impact potential. I update the page once or twice a week. If you want to see them as soon as I find them, follow me on Facebook or LinkedIn. If you're curious why I started this volunteer project, I wrote about it in National Geographic.
Update: I have launched the Romanian Science Digest
Update March 2022: If you are interested in research and science in Romania, you can subscribe to Romanian Science Digest, a weekly newsletter containing research information from universities, research institutions, academia and other organisations. Read more about this initiative here.
Update June 2021: I decided to end this monitoring after one year and two months. If you are still interested in the subject, see the next section.
Where you can find further Romanian studies on Covid-19
The World Health Organization regularly collects, verifies and updates a list of Romanian studies on Covid-19. The list can be found here. The latest studies are these:
Archive of selected articles
Disclaimer: summaries are not "official" and may contain errors of judgment on my part. If you would like to know more about one of the studies, please contact the author of the study using the email address in the paper. Many papers are in pre-print stage and have not been checked by other specialists in the field.
24.06.2021 Nicoleta Siminea et al, "Network analytics for drug repurposing in COVID-19", a team of researchers from National Research and Development Institute for Biological Sciences Bucharest published a paper dedicated to better understanding the potential for drug reuse in COVID-19: This looked at combinations and possible interactions, at the protein level, between existing drugs and the most important factors of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Through these simulations, the researchers aimed to better understand which would be the most effective existing drugs that can also be used to treat the disease. This is an approach that may be used in other contexts. An official summary of the work in Romanian can be found here.
16.06.2021 Băicuș, Anda, "Identification of SARS-CoV-2 and Enteroviruses in Sewage Water-A Pilot Study": traces of Sars Cov 2 could also be detected in waste water in Romania. A team of researchers tested and compared water samples from different times of the year in several towns in the north of the country, including some from before the pandemic broke out. Of all the tests applied, the most sensitive test for the Sars Cov 2 virus detected its presence in wastewater, particularly in samples taken in October 2020. The authors are from University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila" of Bucharest and "Cantacuzino" National Institute for Medical and Military Research and Development.
16.06.2021 Manea, Eliza et al, Healthcare-associated Clostridioides difficile infection during the COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary care hospital in Romania: The study followed the incidence of Clostridioides difficile infections in a dedicated Covid hospital during the pandemic period compared to a previous period (2017/2018). The incidence was similar, and what was observed in both groups was that they were overusing antibiotics (around 86% in both groups studied). The authors are from University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila" of Bucharest and National Institute of Infectious Diseases Prof. Dr. Matei Balș.
16.06.2021 Dascalu, Cristina Gena, 10-Months Study Regarding the COVID-19 Spreading in Romanian Counties: an extended study, which takes into account data from 2 April 2020 to 25 January 2021, concludes that there were no major differences between the counties of Romania, showing that the medical effort was uniform. Suceava was an exception, sometimes with a gap of one day compared to the other counties in terms of evolution.
05/18/2021 Guerrero-Gomez, Ana, et al. "Dreaming in Adolescents During the COVID-19 Health Crisis: Survey Among a Sample of European School Students." Frontiers in Psychology 12 (2021): 1054. 31% of adolescents (including Romanian) participating in a study remember their dreams better now, 18% say they have nightmares more often, and 15% reported at least one pandemic-related dream. Research on teenagers' dreams during Covid-19 was contributed to the research by an author from the Romanian association Timisoara - European Capital of Culture.
18/05/2021 Florea, Mira, et al. "Lights and Shadows of the Perception of the Use of Telemedicine by Romanian Family Doctors During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” International Journal of General Medicine 14 (2021): 1575. How well have family doctors adapted to telemedicine? A survey based on an anonymous questionnaire completed by 108 GPs in Cluj found that more than a quarter of doctors found it easier to deal with patients remotely; 60% found tele-consultations more time-consuming than face-to-face visits, but 64.3% of them said they could not be sure about the diagnosis made. The authors are from University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Iuliu Hațieganu" of Cluj and University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila" of Bucharest.
29/04/2021 Radulescu, Amanda et. al. "Antibody and viral RNA kinetics in SARS-CoV2 infected patients admitted in a Romanian University Hospital of Infectious Diseases" - Regardless of the type of infection, asymptomatic/mild or severe, those who have Covid develop antibodies, shows this study of 469 patients at the Hospital Clinic of Infectious Diseases Cluj-Napoca. For those with milder infection, it took 15 days to PCR-negative, and for those with more severe infections - 17 days. Those with more severe infections developed antibodies faster. The authors are from University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Iuliu Hațieganu" of Cluj and Clinical Hospital for Infectious Diseases Cluj-Napoca.
19/04/2021 Adriana Cotel et.al. "Predictors of Burnout in Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic" - What are the factors that lead Romanian doctors to burnout? The study was conducted on 523 doctors in two hospitals, between March and June 2020, during which period 14.5% of the respondents had reached a level of clinical exhaustion, i.e. generating burn-out. Significant impact on burnout in physicians have: three workplace demands (work-family conflict, lack of training/scope of practice, emotional demands), three workplace resources (training, professional development and continuing education; supervision, recognition and feedback; autonomy and control) and one personal resource (self-efficacy). The study was conducted by researchers at University of Bucharest, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila" of Bucharest and Emergency Clinical Hospital "Sf. Pantelimon".
19/04/2021 Sabina Potra et. al. "Facing COVID-19 Challenges: 1st-Year Students' Experience with the Romanian Hybrid Higher Educational System" - Students prefer face-to-face interaction in class, but hope that some of the functions taken over by online learning platforms can be used after the end of that, this study of first-year students by researchers at Polytechnic University of Timisoara, a university where faculties have approached a hybrid education system this academic year. Students identified four types of problems in online learning: information overload, limited interaction, teacher management of classes and problems concentrating during hours spent in front of a computer screen.
28/03/2021 Mititelu, Magdalena, et al. "The Impact Of Covid-19 Lockdown On The Lifestyle And Dietary Patterns Among Romanian Population." How have Romanians' lifestyles changed since the pandemic? One of the findings of this study is that Romanians have followed the general recommendations on protein consumption, hydration, antioxidant-rich diet characterised by increased consumption of fish, fruits and vegetables, and low consumption of sweets, with the aim of strengthening the immune system. The authors are from University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila" of Bucharest, Ovidius University of Constanta and Transilvania University of Brasov.
28/03/2021 Lădaru, Georgiana-Raluca, et al. "Influencing Factors and Social Media Reflections of Bakery Products Consumption in Romania." Sustainability 13.6 (2021): 3411. Remember the photos of home-baked breads? On social media, interest in bread and baked goods increased 3-4 times from February to March, with the most frequent posts being about home recipes. Interest dropped again, almost sharply, in the following months, only to be slightly revived in November, when Covid cases started to rise again. The study was conducted by authors from Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, University of Craiova and Research Institute for Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
28/03/2021 Alexa, S., & Baciu, E. L. 15 Challenges in Supporting Disadvantaged Children's Access to Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Experience of a Romanian Nonprofit Organization. A case study of a non-governmental organization dedicated to children's education and the challenges it has faced in various phases of the pandemic. The organisation has struggled, among other things, with the reorientation of donors towards health causes, while the financial and extra resource needs of the organisation have increased. The authors are from West University of Timisoara, Faculty of Sociology and Psychology.
12/03/2021 Cernicova-Buca, M., and A. Palea. "An Appraisal of Communication Practices Demonstrated by Romanian District Public Health Authorities at the Outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Sustainability 2021, 13, 2500." (2021) - The Iași DSP is the "winner" in communicating about Covid-19 in social media, according to this study that analyzed the communication of 15 DSPs in Romania, taking into account a number of factors such as the number of press releases, web pages, social media presence. The most active website was DSP Vrancea, followed by DSP Neamt. Traffic on the DSPs' pages increased by 300%-400%, but only after mid-May. The study is signed by authors from Polytechnic University of Timisoara.
06/03/2021 Dascalu, Stefan, et al. "Prospects of COVID-19 Vaccination in Romania: Challenges and Potential Solutions." Frontiers in Public Health 9 (2021): 90. 9 health experts, including Valeriu Gheorghiță, coordinator of the national vaccination campaign, sign an article about the challenges of the vaccination campaign in Romania and recommendations. Among other things, the authors draw attention to the danger posed by the unfair distribution of the vaccine and people "jumping the queue" to gather public distrust in the process, especially given that the medical world is already facing an attitude of distrust and waiting lists can be considered susceptible to the "corruption" factor. The three authors who contributed the majority to the manuscript are Ștefan Dascălu - Oxford University , Oana Geambasu - Harvard University and Ludwig Maximilian University & Ovidiu Covaciu - Healthy Romania Coalition.
06/03/2021 Manciuc, C. et al, SARS-CoV-2 infection and diabetes mellitus: A North Eastern Romanian experience - Diabetes severely affects mortality among Covid-19, according to observations from the "Sfânta Paraschiva" Infectious Diseases Clinical Hospital Iasi. The authors analysed cases coming in between March and June 2020: out of 1080 patients, 85 had diabetes, mostly type II. Comparing the numbers of those who ended up in ATI between two groups - those with diabetes and those without the disease - 88,23% of those with diabetes died; for the second group, the mortality rate was 59%. The authors are from University of Medicine and Pharmacy Gr. T. Popa Iasi and Infectious Diseases Hospital Iasi.
15/02/2021 Lucheș, D.; Saghin, D.; Lupchian, M.-M. Public Perception of the First Major SARS-Cov-2 Outbreak in the Suceava County, Romania. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 1406. The study aims to provide an explanation for that explosion of Covid-19 in Suceava. One of the authors' conclusions: "The crisis in Suceava was the result of the first confrontation of the Romanian health system with a new and difficult situation, which required awareness, responsibility and competent solutions. Political involvement in management, corruption and underfunding in the system were not only present in Suceava, they have long been reported throughout the country. The newness of the situation and the lack of anticipation of the effects of remigration on a single provider of high performance health services at county level by weak management have made Suceava the "scapegoat" of a system with many dysfunctions acquired and amplified over the last 30 years." The authors are from the University of West Timisoara and "Stefan cel Mare" University of Suceava.
15/02/2021 Mr. Marius Surleac, Ms. Corina Casangiu, Ms. Leontina Banica, Mr. Petre Milu, Mr. Dragos Florea, Mrs. Oana Sandulescu, Mrs. Anca Streinu-Cercel, Mr. Ovidiu Vlaicu, Ms. Andreea Tudor, Mr. Robert Hohan, Dr. Simona Paraschiv, and Mr. Dan Otelea, AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, Evidence of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating in Romania - Two types of strains among the more publicized mutated variants have so far been confirmed in Romania: B.1.1.7 (known as the "British strain") and B.1.258 (a variant circulating in European countries). In addition, the article argues for the need for public health policies that take into account molecular monitoring of the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, so as to allow a rapid and appropriate response. Unfortunately, the article is not available in full text format.
07/02/2021 Radu Gheorghe MAGDIN, Do Elections Facilitate the Fight Against the COVID-19 Pandemic? One of the consequences of the pandemic in politics has been that there have been more medical candidates for public office, Brazil and Romania being two such examples. Political parties have also recruited doctors into their ranks to increase their authority, but the effect can be the opposite: a decline in public confidence in doctors as a result of their involvement in politics. The bottom line is that while those in power may be banking on an effective pandemic response to win re-election, election periods can also be times of increased polarisation, opportunism and misinformation. The author is a PhD candidate at SNSPA and consulting entrepreneur - Smartlink.
07/02/2021 Lobiuc, Andrei, et al. "Emergence of first strains of Sars-CoV-2 lineage B. 1.1. 7 in Romania.” medRxiv (2021) - The paper, as yet without peer review, is signed by the team of researchers who discovered the first "British strain" in Romania, in Suceava, from a patient who came from the UK. The analysis had been carried out on 20 patients from Suceava, Cluj and Craiova, of which only this case had the British variant mutations, named B.1.1.7. At the time of writing (26 January 2021), 5 such cases were reported in Romania, but the authors of the paper claim that the prevalence of this strain appears to be much higher, given that genetic sequencing is not a widespread practice. The authors are from "Stefan cel Mare" University of Suceava and "Sf. Ioan cel Nou" Emergency County Hospital Suceava.
07/02/2021 Curseu, Petru L, et.al Let's Not Joke about It Too Much! Exposure to COVID-19 Messaging, Attitudes and Protective Behavioral Intentions - Let's not joke too much about Covid-19, because it makes us more careless with protective measures, this study shows. The authors investigated how exposure to COVID-19 information (general and humorous information), negative emotions, attitudes and perceived behavioural control influence the adoption of protective measures The Romanian authors are from Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca.
26/01/2021 Rosu, Adrian, et al. Assessment of NO2 Pollution Level during the COVID-19 Lockdown in a Romanian City. During the general quarantine period (lockdown period), decreases in noise pollution were observed in the city of Galati, but these effects were modest compared to more populated cities. Values were recorded using both satellite and ground-based instruments. The decrease was more pronounced during working days, mainly due to reduced car traffic, not industrial activity. The authors are from "Dunărea de Jos" University of Galati and The Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB).
26/01/2021 Costea, Florea, et al. "Burnout syndrome in the Emergency Department of the Central Military Emergency Hospital before and during the COVID-19 pandemic." Romanian Journal of 124.1: 22. Are doctors experiencing burnout these days? A survey of questionnaires administered to medical staff at the Dr. Carol Davila Central Military Emergency Hospital suggests that levels of burnout and other symptoms of burnout syndrome have increased during the pandemic, across all ages, all roles in the healthcare system, both male and female. Questionnaires were administered between May and June 2020 to 65 people. The authors are from Dr. Carol Davila Central Military Emergency University Hospital", Military Medical Institute and "Titu Maiorescu" University of Bucharest.
17/01/2021 Olariu, Tudor Rares, et al. "Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies In 2115 blood donors from Romania." Clinical Microbiology and Infection. A clue about antibody levels in Romania by September 2020: only 1.5% of donors at the Timisoara Regional Transfusion Centre had antibodies in their blood. The study was conducted on 2115 blood donors from 8 July to 1 September 2020. The research has authors from University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Victor Babes" in Timisoara, "Pius Brînzeu" Emergency County Clinical Hospital and Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases Timisoara
01/17/2021 Goldblatt, David, et al. "Cross Sectional Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in Health Care Workers in Paediatric Facilities in Eight Countries."Journal of Hospital Infection - A study of antibody levels in paediatricians in several countries, including Romania. Out of 124 participants in the Romanian study, only one had antibodies, equivalent to 0.8% - the study was conducted in June 2020. By comparison, in the UK, where two 'tranches' of paediatricians were studied, one in May and one in June, the proportion of participants with antibodies was 15.3 and 16.9 respectively. From Romania, an author from Children's Clinical Hospital Brasov.
09/01/2021 A.S. Gheorghe et. al, Knowledge, attitudes and practices related to the COVID-19 outbreak among Romanian adults with cancer: a cross-sectional national survey - How well informed are cancer patients in Romania about Covid-19 and how well do they protect themselves? A study involving 1585 patients in several cancer centres across Romania shows that many have less than expected knowledge about the virus, although many patients believe they are better informed than they are. A small number of patients said they preferred to postpone their cancer treatment until the end of the epidemic. Most of them follow preventive measures, and 30% of them have also resorted to scientifically unsubstantiated preventive measures such as antibiotics, nasal irrigations, etc. The lead author is from University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila" of Bucharest.
09/01/2021 Radulescu, Carmen Valentina, et al. "Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Romanian Labor Market."Sustainability 13.1 (2020): 1-1 - Company measures to protect against Covid-19, i.e. benefits including comprehensive health insurance, are now among the factors that matter in selecting a new job, according to this survey of a representative sample of 548 respondents. The study also reveals that the majority of those surveyed have kept their income levels the same and that the main benefits of teleworking are: saving commuting time, greater flexibility in organising their own schedule, the opportunity to spend more time with family and the fact that companies are more responsive online. The study was conducted by authors from Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies.
09/01/2021 Raboca, H. M., & Cotoranu, D. The Efficiency of the Online Academic Teaching Process During the Pandemic Covid-19 - 72% of students participating in a survey consider online learning to be at a lower level, i.e. much lower than traditional learning. The main reasons for this are: lack of technical resources (internet, video camera, etc.); lack of necessary technical knowledge among both students and teachers; increased amount of work, including individual work. The study is based on questionnaires administered to 193 students at Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences / Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca (where the authors of the paper are from).
02/01/2021 Islam, Muhammad Torequl, et al. "High skin melanin content, Vitamin D deficiency and immunity: potential interference for severity of Covid-19." Is there any link between Vitamin D deficiency and severity of Covid-19 symptoms? What about between skin types? Specifically, does the level of melanin in the skin (which determines how dark or light it is) influence the severity of the disease in any way? Dark skin contains a level
high melanin, which inhibits Vit-D synthesis, leading to a deficiency of this vitamin in some people around the world. The study, authored by a researcher from University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila" of Bucharest and one from University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, aims to highlight a correlation between skin melanin content, Vit-D status, immunity and potential effects on SARS-CoV-2 prevalence.
02/01/2021 Ursu, Ana, and Eduard Dumitru. "Study on the consumer preferences regarding the purchase of products of animal origin in the pre-pandemic and during the pandemic COVID-19 period." "Economic and social implications of the COVID pandemic-19: (2020): 162-164. How has the purchase of animal products changed? A study analysing pre- and post-pandemic behaviour reveals that Romanians have shifted towards frozen products and buying directly from the producer, especially those who can demonstrate that they comply with hygiene rules. The study is signed by authors from Research Institute for Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
23/12/2020 Starosta, Kejo, et al. "COVID-19 Mass Media Infodemic in Six European Countries." (2020) - Researchers analysed almost one million news stories from six countries, including Romania, to see if there was a link between the reality of the situation (number of cases) and the way it was reported in the press. Of the 6 countries studied, Romania had the highest proportion of Covid-19 related news (30%) out of the total number of news stories, half of which had a negative connotation. The authors observed that the decrease in the number of cases during the summer did not significantly influence media attention on the topic of Covid-19, an observation that was valid for all countries. The authors are from ASE Bucharest.
23/12/2020 Nastase, Mihai-Claudiu, Alexandru Mitru, and Loredana Andreea Paun. "The Social and Economic Impact of COVID 19 Pandemic on Museums. Case Study: "Princely Court" National Museum Ensemble." LUMEN Proceedings 14 (2020): 336-348. A case study on the survival of the Curtea Domnească National Complex in Targoviste, one of the "lucky" ones of the pandemic because it offers many outdoor spaces. In the summer months, visitor numbers were similar to 2018, but overall, in the January-August period, revenues were down by 65% compared to previous years. The study is authored by researchers at Valahia University of Targoviste.
13/12/2020 Andrea Pieroni et al, Taming the pandemic? The importance of homemade plant-based foods and beverages as community responses to COVID-19Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine - What were the herbal remedies that people used to protect themselves? The study investigates several metropolises and rural regions, including one in Transylvania, where thyme, mint, fir buds, sea buckthorn in honey, witch hazel, onion, parsley and others were used. The winner across the 17 regions studied was ginger, followed by garlic, onion, tumeric and lemon. The study has a Romanian contribution from University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Iuliu Hațieganu" Cluj-Napoca.
12/13/2020 De Sio, Luciano, et al. "Personalized Reusable Face Masks with Smart Nano-Assisted Destruction of Pathogens for COVID-19: a Visionary Road." Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) (2020) - The study presents a concept for a nanotechnology-based "mask of the future" with pathogen (bacteria and virus) killing properties, light-based activation, efficient filtration, humidity control and digital customisation. It is made with a Romanian contribution from Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca / Center for Nanobiophotonics and Laser Microspectroscopy.
13/12/2020 Magdin, Radu. "Disinformation campaigns in the European Union: Lessons learned from the 2019 European Elections and 2020 Covid-19 infodemic in Romania." Romanian Journal of European Affairs 20.2 (2020): 49 - During the Covid-19 crisis, disinformation campaigns have reached new levels of sophistication, with Russian and Chinese campaigns learning from each other. While until 2019, the Russians were known for micro-targeting and the Chinese for their creative approach to strategic communication, the two types of disinformation have merged, implementing "best practices" from both approaches. The study also contains a series of recommendations for tackling the "disinformation epidemic" and argues that European countries will experience a period of instability in the next two years, with propaganda providing fertile ground for polarisation and destabilisation. The author is a PhD candidate at SNSPA and consulting entrepreneur - Smartlink.
05/12/2020 Voicu, Bogdan, et al. "COVID-19 and orientations towards solidarity: the cases of Spain, Hungary, and Romania."European Societies (2020): 1-18 - Citizens in Romania and Hungary became more supportive during the epidemic, and the sense of solidarity varied: at the beginning of the quarantine it was more pronounced, then it experienced a period of decline, after which, a few weeks into the quarantine, the level of solidarity started to increase again. The Romanian authors are affiliated with: Institute for Quality of Life Research (ICCV), Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Babeș-Bolyai University and University of Bucharest.
05/12/2020 Lupei, M. I. Personal reflections of the COVID-19 pandemic and professional development in Anesthesiology Critical Care - is not a study, but an essay by a Romanian-born anesthesiology specialist from University of Minnesota Medical School about how the pandemic is affecting his career path. To combat burn-out, his university's psychiatry and anaesthesiology departments have set up a system of "battle buddies" so that burned-out medical staff don't have to rely solely on friends and family for emotional support.
29/11/2020 Hategan, C.-D.; Curea-Pitorac, R.-I.; Hategan, V.-P. Responsible Communication of Romanian Companies for Ensuring Public Health in a COVID-19 Pandemic Context. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 8526. / How did companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange communicate during the pandemic? More than half of them had at least one type of public communication. The topics on which they communicated to the public were: shareholder meetings (44%), measures taken by companies (40%), donations (5%). Only 2% of the companies communicated on coronavirus-related research. The authors are from the University of West Timisoara.
29/11/2020 Stefan, L., & Grama, C. (2020). Rule of Law in Tough Times-A Case Study on the Romanian Sanctioning Policy During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences, 16(SI), 121-148. This is an analysis of the fines and sanctions applied in the period at the beginning of the pandemic, based on data provided by the Romanian Police and Jandarmerie. We find that the total amount of fines applied by the Police was in Dolj (almost 18 million lei), but that Prahova had the most sanctions and fines, that the Jandarmerie collected the most money from fines in Brasov, and that Iasi county is in both the top of the fines - both Police and Jandarmerie. In Bucharest, most sanctions (over 40,000) were imposed for violating traffic bans. The authors are from the Expert Forum Association and the Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences.
16/11/2020 How families handled emergency remote schooling during the Covid-19 lockdown in spring 2020. This is not an article from a scientific journal, but a European study on how families in 9 European countries, including Romania, have coped with online schooling. Among the authors of the study is Anca Velicu, from the Institute of Sociology of the Romanian Academy.
16/11/2020 Țălu, S., and A. D. Nazarov. "Estimated Exchange Rate Opportunities Generated by the COVID-19 Pandemic in Romania in 2020.” Research Technologies of Pandemic Coronavirus Impact (RTCOV 2020) (2020): 397-400. Because of the economic situation caused by the pandemic, the euro could reach RON 4.9295 by the end of this year, estimates an author from Technical University of Cluj Napoca.
16/11/2020 Nemțeanu, Marcela-Sefora; Dabija, Dan-Cristian - "The Influence of Heavy Work Investment on Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention in Romania"(abstract sent by the author) This research reflects a state of the Romanian employee in the period April-July 2020, namely that of a massive investor in his own work, manifested either through dedication behaviours or, due to stress and pressure, through workaholism. One form of workaholism commonly found among employees surveyed during this period is overwork. The research results show that this dimension of workaholism reduces employee satisfaction and has direct implications for the intention to leave the job. The research is part of a larger project, details of which can be found at https://www.researchgate.net/project/Studiu-privind-impactul-investitiei-masive-in-munca-asupra-rezultatelor-organizationale. We want to continue the research in the context of COVID with a new project, namely by studying the impact of telework on the employee. In the wake of this pandemic, much of our work as employees has moved online. With this study we want to discover and assess what has changed in the way employees work and also whether there are consequences for their personal life balance. Last but not least we want to assess the implications of job isolation on the relationship with colleagues, interaction with supervisors and especially the effects of telework on individual performance.
07/11/2020 Lupușoru, Ioana, et al. "Difficulties in Treating a Patient with Multiple Cancers in the COVID-19 Pandemic." Surgery (Bucharest, Romania: 1990) 115.5 (2020): 670-676. What was involved in treating a 64-year-old patient with multiple cancers during the pandemic. A case reported by authors from the Hospital Sf. Spiridon Iași and the University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Gr. T. Popa"
07/11/2020 Rughiniș, Cosima, Lorena Dima, and Sorina Vasile. "Hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19: Lack of Efficacy and the Social Construction of Plausibility." American Journal of Therapeutics (2020). Why is hydroxychloroquine still being considered as a treatment for COVID after seven clinical trials have shown it has no effect? A study by authors from: Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, University of Bucharest, Faculty of Medicine from "Transilvania" University of Brasov and Interdisciplinary School of Doctoral Studies of the University of Bucharest.
30/10/2020 Jurca, Roxana, et al. "COVID-19-Clinical Relevance of a Negative RT-PCR SARS-CoV-2 Test." Timisoara Med 2020.1 (2020): 0-0. An interesting case: a 34-year-old woman, with both parents suffering from Covid-19, presented three times to the emergency department with specific symptoms of the disease, but had a negative PCR test three times. The diagnosis was eventually made on the basis of a chest X-ray. The case was flagged and analysed by authors from Dr. Victor Babes Clinical Hospital for Infectious Diseases and Pneumophthisiology Timisoara
30.10.2020 Monica Neagu (2020): The bumpy road to achieve herd immunity in COVID-19, Journal of Immunoassay and Immunochemistry, DOI: 10.1080/15321819.2020.1833919. To achieve herd immunity, one would need to be infected or artificially immunized 50-60% of the population, but even so, there are still many unknowns and hurdles in achieving it, given that reinfection is known to occur and it is unclear how long the body's immunity lasts. The study is authored by an immunologist at National Institute for Research and Development in Pathology and Biomedical Sciences "Victor Babes" & Colentina Clinical Hospital.
30.10.2020 Socea, B., et al. "POLYTRAUMA DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC: AN INCREASING INCIDENCE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE." Romanian Journal of Emergency Surgery 2.1 (2020): 20-24. Domestic violence has escalated into a pandemic. A study of cases with multiple traumas arriving at the Surgical Ward of the "Sf. Pantelimon" Emergency Clinical Hospital shows that the number of domestic violence cases in the precinct was four times higher compared to 2017-2019, comparing the period from March 16 to June 15. Trauma due to stabbing, falling or assault has drastically decreased, but the total number of multiple trauma cases was almost unchanged from previous years due to such a sharp increase in violence. Signed authors from: University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila", Emergency Clinical Hospital "Sf. Pantelimon", Emergency Clinical Hospital of Bucharest (Floreasca), Emergency Clinical Hospital "Prof.Dr.Agrippa Ionescu", Clinical Emergency Hospital "Bagdasar–Arseni„.
21/10/2020 Hostiuc, S., Negoi, I., Maria-Isaila, O., Diaconescu, I., Hostiuc, M., & Drima, E. Age in the Time of COVID-19. An Ethical Analysis. Aging and disease, 0. How ethical is it to use age as the (sole) criterion for deciding who gets care and who doesn't when resources are limited? The authors make some ethical arguments against the common practice of using age as the sole criterion. The authors are from University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila"National Institute of Forensic Medicine, Emergency Clinical Hospital in Bucharest and Dunărea de Jos University of Galati.
21/10/2020 Channa, A., & Popescu, N. (2020, October). Managing COVID-19 Global Pandemic With High-Tech Consumer Wearables: A Comprehensive Review. In 2020 12th International Congress on Ultra Modern Telecommunications and Control Systems and Workshops (ICUMT) (pp. 222-228) IEEE. the gadgets we wear (Fitbit, smartwatch, etc.) have the ability to detect early biological signs of COVID symptoms. Three authors, including one from Polytechnic University of BucharestThey analysed the gadgets on the market in terms of their monitoring capabilities, such as respiration rate, electrocardiogram, oxygen saturation, temperature, etc. They did not rank them, but the paper contains an analysis of 28 smart devices. Also in the paper they mention the effectiveness of chatbots for "sorting" COVID cases based on a question and answer test. One such chatbot, Symptom, demonstrated an accuracy of 96.32%. [The work is with paywall]
07/10/2020 Barbu, M. G., Thompson, R. J., Thompson, D. C., Cretoiu, D., & Suciu, N. (2020). The Impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the Most Common Comorbidities-A Retrospective Study on 814 COVID-19 Deaths in Romania. Frontiers in Medicine, 7, 581. What caused the death: coronavirus or comorbidity? The study looked at 814 COVID-19-related deaths in Romania to see which comorbidities were most at risk (1- diabetes; 2- chronic kidney disease; 3-hypertension) and put a figure on the percentage of deaths that would not have occurred in the absence of the virus. For 31% of the total the virus caused death, in the sense that these people would not have died otherwise, but this percentage could only be calculated for people in the medium and high risk groups. For the remaining 69%, the researchers could not say for sure how many died from the virus and how many would have died anyway, because more data would have been needed. [the information was confirmed with the lead author]. The authors are from National Institute for Mother and Child Health "Alessandrescu-Rusescu" and University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila"
04/10/2020 Stoica, Cătălin Augustin, and Radu Umbreș. "Suspicious minds in times of crisis: determinants of Romanians' beliefs in COVID-19 conspiracy theories." European Societies (2020): 1-16. What factors influence Romanians' tendencies to believe in conspiracies? Age - yes; Education - surprisingly, including for the authors, those with at least a high school diploma are more likely to embrace conspiracy theories than those who did not finish high school; Degree of integration into society - yes and a few other factors you can discover in the paper. One comment in the results section that surprised me: older people who have lived through communism might be inclined not to believe the "official discourse" due to having lived in times with a huge discrepancy between reality and state apparatus propaganda. Back then, the majority of the population did not trust the regime and relied on rumours and information from the underground. The authors are from Department of Sociology at SNSPA.
02.10.2020 Băcilă, Ciprian, Claudia Anghel. "Telepsychiatry In The Romanian Health System During Covid-19 Pandemic." An article from which I learned something very interesting: the Health Insurance House does not pay for online psychological consultation sessions. However, Psychiatric Hospital "Dr. Gheorghe Preda" Sibiu has mobilised and set up a telephone support line.
27/09/2020 Baicus, Cristian, et al. "Hydroxychloroquine for prophylaxis of COVID-19 physicians survey: Despite lack of evidence, many would take or give to dear ones, and despite the perceived necessity of an RCT, few would participate.” Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. In a survey of 785 doctors, 4% said they already take hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic treatment and 24.5% of doctors are considering the option. 22% of doctors would give hydroxychloroquine to a family member as treatment. Almost half of doctors (48%) believe there is sufficient evidence for the efficacy of the drug.
27/09/2020 Gherghina, Ș.C.; Armeanu, D.Ș.; Joldeș, C.C. Stock Market Reactions to COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak: Quantitative Evidence from ARDL Bounds Tests and Granger Causality Analysis. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public @Health 2020, 17, 6729. - Another article about the effect of the pandemic on stock markets in several countries, including Romania. For Romania, the authors suggest that the death toll in Italy has a direct impact on the value of 10-year bonds to a greater extent than it has on the BET index.
12/09/2020 Zaharie, Gabriela, et al. "Diagnostic Challenges, Management, and Outcome of Infants Born to Mothers With COVID 19." (2020) - preprint, has not been verified by independent experts - What happens to newborns of mothers infected with the new coronavirus? The study looks at newborns at Cluj Emergency Hospital from mothers diagnosed with Covid19 - 6 newborns, all by caesarean section, between 1-15 May. None of the newborns showed signs of infection, being tested twice for PCR. The paper also details what the protocols are after birth - what happens with breastfeeding, how mother and baby are cared for separately. In the discussion section, the study notes that there are, however, documented cases of mother-to-infant transmission, but these are rare. The authors are from University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Iuliu Hațieganu" Cluj-Napoca.
10/09/2020 Clinical recommendations for return to play during the COVID-19 pandemic (Infographic) - Under what conditions can athletes return to training and play? What tests should they go through and what parameters should be considered? A panel of experts has produced a visual guide, based on scientific recommendations, for sport. The experts include Anca Ionescu from University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila".
10/09/2020 Migrant carers in Europe in times of COVID-19: a call to action for European health workforce governance and a public health approach: the COVID crisis has (also) highlighted a deeper crisis in the Romanian healthcare system, that of the lack of strategy for long-term care, as well as the migration of people willing to work in the field to Western European countries. The paper analyses the problem in several countries and includes a case study on Romania. The Romanian author is Marius Ionuț Ungureanu, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Health / lecturer at UBB Cluj.
05/09/2020 Elena, Vasiu Diana. "The Covid-19 Impact On Bucharest Stock Exchange. The First Six Months.” Studies in Business and Economics 15.2 (2020): 256-269. How was the Bucharest Stock Exchange affected by the Pandemic? The stock fell sharply from February to March, started to rise in April and May, but fell again in June.
03/09/2020 PĂNOIU, Laura, et al. "Financing Public Health System By Municipal Bonds-a Solution In The Current Pandemic": two authors from "Constantin Brâncoveanu" University of Pitesti have made an analysis of healthcare spending in Romania (the lowest in the EU) and propose a solution for financing the healthcare system in times of pandemic - trading municipal bonds on the Stock Exchange.
27/08/2020 Andreea Maria Dicu, The impact of working from home on employees' wellbeing during COVID-19. It is not an article published in a scientific journal, but a master's thesis that investigated the impact of the epidemic on employees, particularly through the lens of working from home. I liked it and am including it in the list for two reasons: 1. Because it is published in full and 2. Because she made a layman's summary of it herself, which you can read here.
27/08/2020 Sfîcă, Lucian, et al. "Weather conditions (with focus on UV radiation) associated with COVID-19 outbreak and worldwide climate-based prediction for 2 future prevention 3.” future 3: 4. Since the outbreak, there has been a suspicion that its spread might be aided or hindered by the weather. The Romanian study identified at least two interesting conclusions: that the "explosion" of the spread was favoured by abnormally low UV radiation values and that its spread is favoured by warm weather but low UV radiation values. The authors are from University "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" of Iasi and from National Meteorological Administration.
24/08/2020 Surleac, Marius, et al. "Molecular Epidemiology Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Strains Circulating in Romania during the First Months of the Pandemic.” Life 10.8 (2020): 152. The virus strains circulating in northern Romania are different from those circulating in the south, and the outbreak has had multiple entry points into the country. Those in the north have more similarities to strains from Spain, Scotland and Russia, and those in southern Romania are similar to virus strains from Switzerland, Italy, France and Turkey. The team is composed of authors from National Institute of Infectious Diseases Prof. Dr. Matei Balș, Institute of Biochemistry in Bucharest, Children's Emergency Clinical Hospital "M. S. Curie", University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila" , University of Athens.
24/08/2020 Hâncean, Marian-Gabriel; Perc, Matjaž; Lerner, Jürgen; Early spread of COVID-19 in Romania: imported cases from Italy and human-to-human transmission networks - This research has already been written about in the Romanian press, but it was too important to leave it only in the list, without any explanation. You can read the press release of the University of Bucharest here: https://unibuc.ro/prima-analiza-intrarea-covid-19-in-romania/
19/08/2020 CIOBAN, ȘTEFANA, and DRAGOȘ VÎNTOIU."THE REBELLIOUS SOCIAL NETWORK REACTION TO COVID-19." How did the pandemic look on Reddit? Surprisingly, posts with rather negative content have shifted from neutral to positive in content. Discussions were rather dominated by information and facts and less by emotions. The authors are two master's students (if I understand correctly) from Babes Bolyai University.
19/08/2020 Petricau, Carina, Irena Nedelea, and Diana Deleanu. "Surprising protective mechanisms against severe forms of COVID-19 infection among Common Variable Immunodeficiency Patients-one center experience."In patients suffering from Common Variable Immunodeficiency (a disease manifested by a low antibody count and susceptibility to infection), there appears to be a protective mechanism against the more severe form of Covid-19. The study is in preprint, not yet published. Signed authors from: Regional Institute of Gastroenterology Hepatology "Prof. Dr. O. Fodor" Cluj Napoca.
19/08/2020 SUCEVEANU, ANDRA IULIA, et al. "ASSERTION FOR MONTELUKAST IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMICS?". Can Montelukast be a useful treatment for Covid-19 symptoms? The Romanian study investigates this possibility. Signed authors from: Ovidius University of Constanta, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila" and Fundeni Clinical Institute.
11/08/2020 Davidescu, Eugenia Irene, et al. "Treatment with hydroxychloroquine in patients with covid-19. Experience of a neurology department." Hydroxychloroquine was associated with a longer hospital stay in a study of patients admitted to Colentina Hospital. Basically, those taking the drug healed more slowly than those on standard treatment. The study was conducted in May on 32 patients, 18 of whom took the drug. Three patients died, all treated with the drug. The authors are from Colentina Clinical Hospital, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila", National Institute for Research and Development in Pathology and Biomedical Sciences "Victor Babes" , National Institute of Infectious Diseases Prof. Dr. Matei Balș.
09/08/2020 Dima, Alina, et al. "Physicians' Perspectives on COVID-19: An International Survey.” Healthcare. Vol. 8. No. 3. Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2020 - Results of a survey of 194 physicians in 43 countries conducted in April. Over 20% say they feel people they used to interact with now avoid them; over two-thirds don't feel they get enough protection (equipment/procedures); 20% believe Vitamin D would be effective in preventing illness. The authors are from Colentina Clinical Hospital, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila", "Dr. Carol Davila" Central Military Emergency University Hospital, Emergency Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases "Prof.Dr. C.C. Iliescu".
07/08/2020 Butu, Alina, et al. "The Impact of COVID-19 Crisis upon the Consumer Buying Behavior of Fresh Vegetables Directly from Local Producers. Case Study: The Quarantined Area of Suceava County, Romania.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17.15 (2020): 5485 - How have vegetable buying habits changed in Suceava, where there was also a strict quarantine? The willingness to order produce online has increased, producers have made friends with the internet, but one thing has remained unchanged: the fact that 95% of those interviewed said they want to see produce for themselves and choose it for themselves. Authors from: National Research and Development Institute for Biological Sciences + authors from Institute for Economic and Social Research "Gh. Zane", ASE Bucharest.
Articles published between 15 May - 8 August 2020 (selection)
Tatar, Raluca; Enescu, Dan Mircea; The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the activity of a pediatric burn center in Bucharest, Romania
SANDU, Antonio; From Pandemic to Infodemic
RUS, MIHAELA; SANDU, MIHAELA LUMINITA; TĂNASE, TASENTE; BOUMEDIENE, SENOUCI; DELCEA, CRISTIAN; THE EFFECT OF THE CORONA VIRUS (COVID-19) ON MENTAL HEALTH
Nadolu, Bogdan; Perspectives of Romanian Students about Life in Social Isolation
Mihăilă, Ramona; Martin, Aurora; The Impact of Sex and Gender on the Incidence and Case Fatality of COVID-19 Infection
Ilie, Ovidiu-Dumitru; Cojocariu, Roxana-Oana; Ciobica, Alin; Timofte, Sergiu-Ioan; Mavroudis, Ioannis; Doroftei, Bogdan; Forecasting the Spreading of COVID-19 across Nine Countries from Europe, Asia, and the American Continents Using the ARIMA Models
Bârgăoanu, Alina; Durach, Flavia; The COVID-19 Infodemic-An Accelerated Version of the New Digital Ecosystem
Șchiopu, Marinică Tiberiu; The Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Education System in Romania
CIOCAN, Rev Lect Cosmin-Tudor; Religious Controversies in COVID-19
Stoian, Anca Pantea; Pricop-Jeckstadt, Mihaela; Pana, Adrian; Ileanu, Bogdan-Vasile; Schitea, Ruxandra; Geanta, Marius; Catrinoiu, Doina; Suceveanu, Andra Iulia; Serafinceanu, Cristian; Pituru, Silviu; Death by SARS-CoV 2-a Romanian COVID-19 multi-centre comorbidity study
Tăbușcă, Alexandru; Garais, Gabriel-Eugen; IOT AND THE FLYING ANSWER TO COVID-19
IACOB, Ștefan Virgil; DUMBRAVĂ, Ștefan Gabriel; BÎRSAN, Oana; THE NATURAL MOVEMENT OF THE POPULATION UNDER THE EFFECT OF THE SANITARY CRISIS IN ROMANIA
Chivu, Luminița; Georgescu, George; Vulnerabilities of the Romanian labour market under impact of COVID-19
Iancu, Head of Work Dr Mihaela Adela; Nicolescu, Oana; Gherghina, Ioan; Matei, Dumitru; INFECTION WITH THE NEW CORONAVIRUS IN CHILDREN
Cacovean, Dan; Ioana, Irina; Nitulescu, Gabriela; IoT System in Diagnosis of Covid-19 Patients
Stefani, Claudiu; Humor During Pandemic in Romania on Facebook
Trifu, Alexandru; HAPPINESS FACING TO THE PERFIDIOUS AND INVISIBLE CHALLENGE OF COVID-19
Earar, Kamel; Arbune, Manuela; Dorobat, Carmen Mihaela; Rusu-Negraia, Magdalena; Stefanescu, Victorița; Schipor, Ovidiu; Harabor, Valeriu Romulus; Harabor, Anamaria; BRATU⁴, ANA MAGDALENA; Biochemical Effects and Therapeutic Application of Vitamin C (C6H8O6) on COVID-19 Infection
Anghel, Dragos-Victor; Anghel, Ioan Tudor Alexandru; Understanding the COVID19 infection curves-finding the right numbers
MUNTEAN, Petru E; NECULCEA, Cristina G; CHEST IMAGING FEATURES OF COVID-19 PNEUMONIA
BORZA, Mioara; PARK, Jeong O; Facing the University Environment with Covid-19 Pandemic: A Comparative Analysis between Romania and South Korea.
Stochițoiu, Radu D; Rebedea, Traian; Popescu, Ionel; Leordeanu, Marius; A self-supervised neural-analytic method to predict the evolution of COVID-19 in Romania
Veith, Cristina; DIGITAL TEACHING IN ROMANIA DURING COVID 19
Reveiu, Adriana; Arghir, Denis-Cătălin; MINING SOCIAL MEDIA TO IDENTIFY THE IMMEDIATE IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE ROMANIAN RETAILERS: EARLY FINDINGS
Stein, Richard A; Ometa, Oana; When Public Health Crises Collide: Social Disparities and COVID-19
Hâncu, Anca; Mihălțan, Florin; Two Pandemics Coalition: Covid-19 and Obesity
Albu, Lucian Liviu; Preda, Ciprian Ion; Lupu, Radu; Dobrotă, Carmen Elena; Călin, George Marian; Boghicevici, Claudia M; Estimates of Dynamics of the Covid19 Pandemic and of its Impact on the Economy
Berta, Péter; Ethnicizing a Pandemic: COVID-19, Culture Blaming, and Romanian Roma
Nemțeanu, Marcela-Sefora; Dabija, Dan-Cristian; BEST PRACTICES OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS IN COMBATING COVID-19
NITULESCU, GEORGE MIHAI; PAUNEScU, HORIA; MOScHOS, STERGHIOS A; Petrakis, Dimitrios; Nitulescu, Georgiana; Ion, George Nicolae Daniel; Spandidos, Demetrios A; Nikolouzakis, Taxiarchis Konstantinos; Drakoulis, Nikolaos; Tsatsakis, Aristidis; Comprehensive analysis of drugs to treat SARS-CoV-2 infection: Mechanistic insights into current COVID-19 therapies
Opincariu, Diana; Medical Research During the COVID-19 Pandemic-Two Faces of the Same Coin
Huidu, Alexandra; The Social Responsibility of Researchers in Combating Fake News and Conspiracy Theories During a Pandemic
Dascalu, Monica; Malita, Mihaela; Barbilian, Adrian; Franti, Eduard; Stefan, Gheorghe M; Enhanced Cellular Automata with Autonomous Agents for Covid-19 Pandemic Modeling
Original post - updated until 15 May 2020
For a few weeks now, I have been following what is published on COVID 19 in Romania. I have opened a list of scientific papers, which I will try to keep up to date (why I have classified the papers in this way - read here)
Update: with the end of the state of emergency, I also stopped monitoring articles.
Included in the list "curated" by the World Health Organization:
15/04/2020 COVID-19 in a tertiary hospital from Romania: Epidemiology, preparedness and clinical challenges - about the experience of the first 126 patients at the "Dr. Victor Babes" Clinical Hospital in Bucharest
13/04/2020 SARS-CoV-2 in Romania - situation update and containment strategies, written by Adrian Streinu Cercel (although it was only added to the list today, the article is outdated, from the time when there were only 3 confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Romania)
6/04/2020 Is Romania ready to face the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak? The role of incoming travelers and that of Romanian diaspora - open letter with authors from University "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" of Iasi
In peer-reviewed journals abroad
09/05/2020 Observations about sexual and other routes of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and its prevention
09/05/2020 Obesity - a risk factor for increased COVID-19 prevalence, severity and lethality (Review)
28/04/2020 COVID-19 in Northern Italy: An integrative overview of factors possibly influencing the sharp increase of the outbreak (Review) - why has such a tragic situation arisen in Northern Italy? In short, the authors' answer is that action was taken too late, and in countries where the authorities have taken drastic measures, the same explosion of cases has not occurred. A teacher from University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova
28/04/2020 Handling of allergen immunotherapy in the COVID-19 pandemic: An ARIA-EAACI statement - is a statement by more than 200 researchers on the management of one type of allergy therapy during this period; among the signatories is a member of the Transilvania University of Brasov.
17/04/2020 Diabetes and the COVID-19 Pandemic: How Insights from Recent Experience Might Guide Future Management, lead author Anca Pantea Stoian from University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila" Bucharest
08/04/2020 Intranasal corticosteroids in allergic rhinitis in COVID-19 infected patients: An ARIA-EAACI statement -- signed by a teacher from Transilvania University Brasov(thank you, Bogdan Tofănică, for pointing this out)
08/04/2020 COVID-19 pandemic and cardiac imaging: EACVI recommendations on precautions, indications, prioritization, and protection for patients and healthcare personnel - signed by a professor at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila Bucharest (thank you, Bogdan Tofănică, for the signal)
6.04.2020 Recommendations for the prevention, mitigation and containment of the emerging SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic in haemodialysis centres - in a top magazine in its field, with an author from University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Gr. T. Popa" of Iasi
28/04/2020 The Successes and Failures of the Initial COVID-19 Pandemic Response in Romania - Stefan Dascălu, from Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom has made an analysis of the response of the Romanian authorities in the context of the Covid-19 epidemic. Although it mentions problems in hospitals, it concludes that the response was swift and successful. In this list I have included so far only researchers from Romanian institutions, I made this exception because I thought the article was relevant anyway.
In peer-reviewed journals in Romania
13/05/2020 The Labour Market Crisis In Romania Causes, Effects And Potential Solutions In just a few weeks, Romania went from a deficit of 1 million employees (before the epidemic) to a surplus of 1 million employees. A researcher at "Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu proposes a series of measures to manage the coming jobs crisis.
13/05/2020 Model for Analyzing the Evolution of Employment and Unemployment in Romania - an article that only tangentially touches on the subject of the epidemic, referring to workers who have recently returned from European countries and are unlikely to return any time soon.
13/05/2020 SARS-CoV-2 Epidemic and Diabetes (editorial)
09/05/2020 Oral Mucosa- Gate for COVID-19 Infection and Correlation with Chemical Structures of the Biocides
03/05/2020 Proposals To Prevent the Reduction of the Gross Domestic Product During the Crisis Period - published in the Romanian Journal of Statistics, the study announces an unprecedented drop in goods and services following the impact of COVID19 and underlines the importance of investment in innovation and research.
21/04/2020 Covid-19 crisis in Romania - between perception and attitude - a survey in which 20% of respondents say they do not respect social distancing measures, 36% consider that the reaction to the Coronavirus epidemic is exaggerated, 79% say that this epidemic has affected their quality of life "a lot" and "very much". It should be noted that this is based on a questionnaire with 244 responses, most of them provided by young people - 88% are under 35. The authors are from Ovidius University of Constanta
17/04/2020 Emergency COVID-19: A Surprising Pandemic
10/04/2020 Covid-19: Restrictions, Economic Losses And Incentives European And Global Overview
6.04.2020 Coronavirus in pregnancy. What we know so far? - the lead author is a doctor
On sites without peer review
13/05/2020 The Specter of Terrorism During the Coronavirus Pandemic - In case you are wondering whether the global pandemic is a pro-terrorism situation or not, find a point of view in this article. One of the authors is a researcher at SNSPA Bucharest.
03/05/2020 Detecting fake news for the new coronavirus by reasoning on the Covid-19 ontology - How could artificial intelligence separate correct information from false information? A researcher at Technical University of Cluj Napoca starts from 33 myths spread on the Internet (such as that high doses of Vitamin C or ginger can prevent coronavirus infection) to show how descriptive logic (a way of organising statements to be processed by artificial intelligence) can be used to separate the false from the true.
17/04/2020 Beginning of the end of the Pandemic ? A comparison between Italy and Romania - Romania is forecast to reach the peak of epipemy in mid-May, according to modelling by Șerban Mișicu of the Horia Hulubei National Institute for Research and Development in Physics and Nuclear Engineering.
16/04/2020 Centralized and decentralized isolation strategies and their impact on the COVID-19 pandemic dynamics - authors from Polytechnic University of Timisoara and The University of Texas at Austin (thank you, Gabriela Grosseck for signaling)
16/04/2020 A decision support system for optimizing the cost of social distancing in order to stop the spread of COVID-19 - author of the University of Bucharest
6.04.2020 Coronavirus and oil price crash - author of the Polytechnic University of Timisoara
Image credit: Science in HD / Unsplash
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