Romanian authorities have introduced a country-wide 11pm curfew for outdoor restaurants and bars and made masks mandatory in crowded public spaces, as the country experiences a spike in COVID-19 cases.

For almost two weeks, Romania has reported more than 1,000 new cases per day.

The country's health minister, Andrei Baciu, said he hopes the new measures will flatten this latest curve of infection.

"Around 35 percent of new cases are coming from only a couple of counties, only a couple of areas, so it's very, very important to deal with the situation at the local level."

Masks have been mandatory in enclosed public spaces and public transport since May and now local authorities have the power to make the wearing of them compulsory in public areas if the transmission rate warrants it.

The government has also warned against disinformation campaigns, which it says are partially to blame for the rising infection rate.

Locals seem mostly willing to adhere to the rules. "Yes, I wear a mask, I have worn it during this whole period, and I encourage the wearing of a mask, it's actually our obligation," Ana, 26, told CGTN Europe.

"My opinion is that, as long as we cannot prove the absence of this virus, we must take the measures needed to protect ourselves, our loved ones, the ones we must protect. It's not difficult, I've been wearing it for five months now, eight hours a day and I encourage everybody to do it."

Romania has more than 23,000 active cases and more than 2,400 deaths. More than 1.2 million tests have been carried out nationwide. The shortening of hours for bars, clubs and outdoor restaurants applies to Bucharest and six other regions.

The affected areas include Constanta county, where the most seaside resorts are located and Prahova and Braşov, which have the most popular mountain resorts. 

That won't help the tourist industry, with visitor numbers already down 62 percent this year. But the government hopes these measures will help to head off a worse disaster.

Check out our new six-part podcast series Notes on a Pandemic as CGTN Europe finds out how business, science and people have risen to the challenge of COVID-19.