COVID-19 pandemic in Moldova


The COVID-19 pandemic in Moldova is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached the Republic of Moldova on 7 March 2020, when a Moldovan woman that returned from Italy was tested positive for the novel coronavirus. As the number of infected people started to rise during the next days, on 17 March 2020 the Parliament declared the state of emergency for the entire territory of the Republic of Moldova for a period of 60 days. On 18 March 2020 the first death caused by COVID-19 was registered. On 23 March 2020 the total number of confirmed cases surpassed 100 and on 7 April 2020 this number exceeded 1000. By 10 April 2020, cases had been confirmed in all the regions of the country, including the Transnistrian region. On 27 April 2020, the total number of deaths surpassed 100.
On 15 May 2020, in the last day of the state of emergency declared by the Parliament on 17 March 2020, the Extraordinary National Commission of Public Health declared the state of emergency in public health for the entire territory of the Republic of Moldova for the period of 16 May - 30 June 2020. On 9 June 2020 the total number of confirmed cases surpassed 10,000. On 25 June 2020 the total number of deaths surpassed 500. On 15 July 2020 the total number of confirmed cases surpassed 20,000. Until 22 July 2020, there have been registered 21,798 confirmed cases in the Republic of Moldova, out of which 14,856 patients recovered and 712 persons with COVID-19 died.

Background

On 12 January, the World Health Organization confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, who had initially come to the attention of the WHO on 31 December 2019.
Unlike SARS of 2003, the case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower, but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.

Timeline

Before 24 February 2020

The first coronavirus case in the Republic of Moldova was announced on 7 March 2020. The infected person is a 48-year-old woman who had returned to Moldova from Italy with the flight Milano-Chisinau. She had been taken to hospital immediately from the plane, being in a serious condition: bilateral bronchopneumonia, acute respiratory failure, fever, cough, general weakness. She suffers from a few chronical illnesses: diabetes, overweight and hypertension. According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection of Moldova, she was diagnosed with bilateral bronchopneumonia, fever and cough on 4 March in Italy. She was prescribed antibiotic treatment at home and put in home quarantine pending confirmation of a new type of coronavirus infection, but she decided to return to Moldova.

Code orange alert (8–12 March 2020)

17–31 March 2020

  1. The state of emergency in public health is declared for the entire territory of the Republic of Moldova for the period 16 May - 30 June 2020, with the possibility to exend this period depending on the evolution of the epidemiological situation.
  2. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection and the National Agency for Public Health are designated as the responsible public authorities to manage the public health emergency.
  3. The decisions of the Extraordinary National Commission of Public Health are mandatory for the authorities of the central and local public administration, for the legal and natural persons, regardless of the field of activity and the legal organisational form.
  4. Non-compliance with the provisions/measures established by the National Commission of Public Health is a danger for the public health and will serve as a basis for the prosecution of administrative offences or criminal offences.

    State of emergency in public health (since 16 May 2020)

Since 16 May 2020

Important notice: as mentioned by the Minister of Health, Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Moldova on 25 April 2020, the number of recoveries reported by the authorities of the Republic of Moldova includes only the persons from the medical institutions that are controlled by the constitutional authorities of the Republic of Moldova, and does not include persons that recovered in the Transnistrian region of Moldova. Therefore, the real number of recoveries shall be bigger than the number reflected in the charts below. Also, as the number of active cases is calculated by excluding from confirmed cases the number of recoveries and deaths, the real number of active cases shall be smaller than the number reflected in the charts below.
Total No. of cases
No. of new primary tests performed per day


Source of data for the number of daily tests: for 8–14 and 16 March 2020: the report of the Minister of Health, Labour and Social Protection presented at the ; for 15, 17, 25 and 26 March 2020, 28 March - 6 April 2020 and since 8 April 2020 - the press releases of the Minister of Health, Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Moldova; for 18–24 March 2020 the number of daily performed tests was announced in the daily press conferences after the meetings of the Single Command Center for the management of the crisis triggered by COVID-19.
No. of new cases per day


No. of recoveries per day


No. of deaths per day


No. of active cases in each day


Total number of cases by age :
Total number of cases by age and sex
Total number of cases by sex, in %
Total number of cases: women
Pregnant women
Non-pregnant women
All women12620 cases

Total number of cases by type of transmission
Imported cases
Local transmission cases
All cases21442 cases

Total number of deaths by age :
Total number of deaths by age and sex
Total number of deaths by sex, in %
The daily evolution
Note: Imp. = import cases; Loc. = local transmission cases; Susp. = suspected cases; n/a = data is not available.