BUCHAREST, July 24 (Reuters) - Twelve Romanians died over the past day as a week-old heatwave gripping southern parts of the Black Sea state drove temperatures to around 42 degrees Celsius, raising the total death toll to 30.
But Health Minister Eugen Nicolaescu Nicolaescu said "Code Red" restrictions imposed by the government on Monday in five counties of the Danube river border with Bulgaria and in Bucharest would be lifted later on Tuesday as temperatures were forecast to ease.
"We have good news ... from Thursday we will shift to 'Code Green'," Nicolaescu told reporters.
He said most of the 12 victims had been elderly people who had died of hyperthermia.
A previous heatwave in June claimed the lives of 30 people and scorched thousands of hectares of farmland, damaging the country's cereal crops.
In the previous 24 hours around 19,000 people had been admitted to hospitals suffering from the heat, health ministry data showed.
Sporadic power blackouts continued in Bucharest, with the grid unable to cope with the load of air conditioners and fans.
(Additional reporting by Luiza Ilie.)