Bucharest, Oct 2 (AP) More than 5,000 people protested Saturday in Romania's capital of Bucharest to reject upcoming measures used by authorities to combat an alarming surge of COVID-19 infections.

Daily COVID-19 infections in the European Union nation of 19 million have skyrocketed from around 1,000 daily cases a month ago to 12,590 new cases on Saturday. That was Romania's highest daily number of infections since the pandemic started.

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The rise is putting the country's hospitals under serious pressure as intensive care units reach near-capacity nationally. Authorities have said that new restrictions will be implemented when an area's infection rate exceeds 6 per 1,000 residents over a 14-day period.

Bucharest's infection rate Saturday stood above 8 per 1,000 residents.

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The mostly mask-less marchers blocked traffic, honked horns and chanted “Freedom!” One placard read: “Green certificates = dictatorship.” (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)