Hungary offers to care for Romanian COVID-19 patients

By STEPHEN McGRATH and JUSTIN SPIKE
Associated Press

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Hungary has offered neighboring Romania help in caring for coronavirus patients as the country faces an alarming surge of COVID-19 cases and a shortage of intensive care beds. The situation is pushing its health care system to the brink of collapse. Hungary’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday that negotiations were underway between the two countries on what kind of assistance would be extended. Romania is a European Union nation of 19 million people and it’s the second-least vaccinated country in the EU. There are 34% of adults fully vaccinated compared to 74% across the bloc. Daily cases in Romania this week skyrocketed to record highs of more than 15,000.