April 30, 2020 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 30.04.2020, 20:00
CORONAVIRUS ROMANIA — Another 10 people infected with the novel coronavirus have died in Romania, bringing the death toll to 705, the Group for Strategic Communication announced on Thursday evening. The victims, 7 women and 3 men were aged 64-90. As many as 12,240 people have tested positive to the virus in Romania, and over 4000 have recovered. Of the 2,200 Romanian citizens infected abroad, 90 have died. Health Minister Nelu Tataru has said people should be cautious during the 3-day holiday that starts tomorrow and continue to observe the restriction measures in place. He has also said that the gradual relaxation of these restrctions after the 15 of May depends largely on how people behave in the upcoming days.
MEDICAL STAFF — As many as 52 Romanian doctors and nurses travelled to the Republic of Moldova on Thursday, where for 15 days they will help their colleagues in the neighbouring country fight the coronavirus. They are providing medical assistance to infected patients and help train the medical staff in hospitals in Chisinau, Balti and Cahul. The Bucharest Government is going to make a donation to Moldova, consisiting in an important amount of money, half a million protection masks, 50,000 hazimat suits and medicines needed in the treatment of the disease. Also on Thursday, Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, travelled to Chisinau to convey a message of support in the context of the pandemic and urge authorities carry out essential reforms for the developmet of the state and for advancing on the European path. Aurescu’s visit comes against the background of the anniversary of 10 years since the signing of the bilateral Strategic Partnership.
PROSECUTION — Former Health Minister, the Social Democrat Sorina Pintea, has been prosecuted in a bribe taking case. According to anti-corruption prosecutors, Pintea had asked and received bribe of 10,000 euros and 120,000 lei while she was the manager of the Baia Mare County Hospital, from the representatives of a private company, accounting for 7% of a public procurement contract. The former Social Democratic minister in currently under judicial control, pending trial.
CONVICTION – Romania has been convicted at the European Court of Justice for dust pollution in the capital Bucharest. The Court ruled that authorities did not fulfill their obligation to combat pollution as they had pledged to under the EU Accession Treaty. The Court has not set a fine for Romania for having infringed the European law but only asked the authorities to comply with the legal framework in the field. Environment Minister, the Liberal Costel Alexe, has accused the capital city’s Social Democratic administration of not implementing measured to curb pollution. The European Commission had referred Romania to the European Court of Justice in 2018, over high PM10 levels – particles found in dust and smoke.
PANDEMIC – Europe is seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, reporting over 1 million confirmed cases in western and southern countries alone. Four European countries have exceeded or are close to the 25,000 deaths mark: Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain and France. The biggest increase in the death toll is reported in the UK, which as of Wednesday is the second-most affected country in Europe. After the first wave of the pandemic, British authorities were late in enforcing social distancing measures. Now, London wants to launch a random testing program at national level before lifting restrictions. Some 100,000 people will be tested across the UK to help the authorities assess the extent of the pandemic. The situation is now stable in countries that originally reported large numbers of infected, such as Italy and Spain. These countries are reporting significantly lower numbers of deaths and infections compared to the pandemics peak point. (Translated by Elena Enache)
