BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania reported its first COVID-19 case a year ago this week. Since then, the country’s underfunded medical system has turned its focus to treating patients with coronavirus. But that has left many Romanians with other health problems deprived of the critical care they need, including patients who are HIV positive or have cancer. Romania’s government is acknowledging the problem and has announced plans to reorganize the country’s hospitals so that more non-COVID-19 patients can get access to health care. The planned changes come as a third surge of the virus looms in Romania and as a vaccine rollout is proceeding slowly across the entire 27-nation European Union.
