The Health Ministry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs have issued Order no. 1204/99/09.07.2021 to supplement Order no. 874/81/2020, which established an obligation to wear a protective mask, epidemiological triage and mandatory hand disinfection to prevent contamination with the SARS-CoV-2 virus during the state of alert (the “Order”) and have published it in the Official Gazette no. 683 dated 9 July 2021.
According to the new provisions of the Order, by way of exception, it is no longer mandatory for employees working in enclosed spaces to wear a protective mask at the workplace, provided that no more than ten employees are present.
Also, the employer in such a situation must ensure that ten days have passed since all such employees have been fully vaccinated, and that a distance of one meter is ensured between the employees. The working space must not be open to the public or other workers.
However, according to the Order, this exception is not applicable for enclosed commonly used spaces.
We recommend that employers continue to comply with the remaining provisions of Order no. 874/81/2020 regarding their health and safety obligations and collaborate closely with their company physician.
By Mircea-Catalin Roman, Senior Associate, and Flavia Denisa Margas, Associate, Noerr