September 11, 2020

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 11.09.2020, 13:55

COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – The Government in
Bucharest announced it would adopt the decision to extend the state of alert in
Romania on Monday. The document could not be voted in Thursday’s Government
meeting as it lacked the go-ahead of the Legislative Council. 1,391 new
infections with SARS CoV-2 have been reported in Romania in the last 24 hours,
the Group for Strategic Communication has said, exceeding a total of 100,000
infections at national level. Another 35 people have died, taking the total
death toll to 4,100. 478 patients are in intensive care. 7,125 people infected
with COVID-19 are currently receiving treatment in hospitals. 10,772 are in
home isolation, 5,754 in institutionalized isolation. 33,129 people are
quarantined at home while 12 are in institutionalized quarantine.

COVID-19 IN THE WORLD – Over 28 million
infections with SARS CoV-2 have been reported worldwide since the start of the
pandemic. The United States continues to be the most affected country, with
nearly 6.6 million infections and some 196,000 deaths. India is the second-most
affected country in terms of the total numbers of infections, some 4.5 million.
76,000 people have died to the virus in India. The resurge in the number of
infections have determined numerous European states to reintroduce restrictions
to prevent the pandemic from spreading. France is playing host to a new meeting
of the Defense and Health Safety Council, devoted to managing the pandemic.
Belgium, Italy and Great Britain are also hit by a second wave, although less
serious than that of March and April. In Croatia, Greece and Malta the increase
in the number of cases is higher than compared to the first wave.

SCHOOLS – The Government has
earmarked an additional €20 million to the budget of the Education Ministry to
fund the Safe Education National Programme. The money will be used for the
purchase of laptops, medical equipment and electronic devices, such as webcams
and tablets, so that teachers can conduct their lessons online wherever the
epidemiological context requires it. A new school year is starting next Monday
in Romania.

ECONOMY – There was no way
for the Government to avoid the economic slump this year, as its main goal was to
reduce the negative effects generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Finance
Minister Florin Cîţu told an online conference. I’ve examined the consumption
figures, and, for instance, retail sales are nearing the level prior to the
pandemic. I’ve looked at investments, as they continued even during the crisis.
We have a positive overall contribution of investments. Prices for the month of
August went down, the inflation rate is 2.7%, down from 4.1% last year, the
highest at EU level at the time, Florin Cîţu went on to say. The Finance
Minister says EU leaders are happy with the measures our Government has
introduced during the health crisis, which helped protect both the population’s
health and the economy.

BREXIT – The European Union
is determined to reach a post-Brexit trade agreement with the United Kingodm,
despite significant divergences that still stand at the end of several days of
negotiations, the EU chief negotiator for Brexit, Michel Barnier has said. The
EU official warned that Europe is preparing for any outcome. One obstacle in
the way of an agreement is the protocol on Northern Ireland, providing that
this British province should continue to observe some EU rules even
post-Brexit, to guarantee the absence of a physical frontier with the Republic
of Ireland, a member of the EU. Yet London’s amendment explicitly states that
some provisions will be enacted even if they go against the withdrawal
agreement. The European Commission has allowed the UK to withdraw the amendment
by the end of the month, warning that in the case of a refusal it would attack
the decision in court. London has dismissed the ultimatum, saying the amendment
still stands.

9/11 – Today marks 19
years since the terrorist attacks of September 11 in the United States,
considered the bloodiest in world history. Some 3,000 people, including
Romanians, were killed by 19 Al Qaeda terrorists who hijacked 4 passenger
airliners, crashing them into key buildings in the US. The death toll continued
to rise after the attacks, many people dying due to exposure to dust from the
site.

(translated
by V. Palcu)