(Bloomberg) --

Romanian Health Minister Victor Costache resigned on Thursday as the country struggled to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said he’ll propose Costache’s deputy Nelu Tataru as a replacement. Under Costache, the ministry has been planning to test the entire population of Bucharest, more than 2 million people, for the virus, while the whole country has only used about 12,000 tests so far.

“We want to protect our hospitals and urgently purchase more equipment, this is our main priority,” Orban said.

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