21 July 2020, UPDATE

A roundup of the latest news from Romania and abroad.

Newsroom, 21.07.2020, 20:00

EU recovery plan. EU member states on Tuesday morning reached an agreement on a historic economic
recovery plan for the Union after 4 days of marathon face-to-face talks in
Brussels. The 750 billion euro post-crisis plan adds to the EU’s multi-annual
budget of 1,074 billion euros for the 2021-2027 period. Of the 750 billion
euros, 390 billion will be granted in grants to the countries worst hit by the
coronavirus crisis, while 360 billion euros will be available in loans.
President Klaus Iohannis says Romania is to receive 80 billion euros, which
will go into to building schools and hospitals and upgrading major public infrastructure.

Coronavirus Romania. 994 new
coronavirus cases were reported in Romania on Tuesday, with the total number
passing 39,000. 36 more people died since the previous report, with the total
death now toll standing at 2,074. As many as 1.087 patients have been released from
hospital at their request, while nearly 300 others are still in intensive care.
Prime minister Ludovic Orban has once again called on citizens to comply with
protection rules and use face masks indoors. Checks
in crowded areas, such as markets, outdoor restaurants and public transport, have
been stepped up. Health minister Nelu Tataru said doctors and other medical
staff would have to be posted to help with intensive care. Postings will at
first be voluntary, and if necessary, even obligatory. We are currently seeing
a progressive rise in the number of cases and in the next two weeks we will try
to return to quarantine and isolation at home or at hospital, the health
minister also said. In another move, the Romanian airline Tarom has suspended
commercial flights to Egypt, Israel, Jordan, the Republic of Moldova, Serbia,
Turkey and Lebanon until 15th August, as a result of the travel restrictions
imposed by the authorities.

Quarantine. In
Romania, a new law on quarantine and self-isolation took effect on Tuesday. The
bill introduced by the Government was drastically amended by Parliament after
the Constitutional Court ruled that such restrictions can only be imposed by
law, even in the case of COVID-19 patients. The Cabinet met on Tuesday morning
to incorporate the provisions of the new law into an executive order that
extends the state of alert by 30 days as of July 17. Under the new law,
healthcare authorities may decide that patients be hospitalised for 48 hours for
an assessment of their medical condition, after which doctors may either extend
the hospitalisation period or send the patient home, if the risk of disease
transmission is low. Patients may challenge in court the obligation to
self-isolate. The same applies for quarantine measures, which concern people
coming from high-risk areas or who have been in contact with infected people.
The law also stipulates that doctors and nurses may be posted to hospitals
experiencing staff shortages, but only for 30 days, and they are entitled to
bonuses for their work. The law defines the conditions for local or regional
lockdown, a measure the authorities have often mentioned in recent days.

Exercise. Two
Romanian military vessels are taking part in a multinational NATO exercise
called Sea Breeze 20, held between July 20 and 27 in Ukraine’s territorial waters,
the Black Sea international waters and the port of Odessa. Over 20 military
vessels, 19 aircraft and nearly 2,000 troops and officers are taking part.

Defence talks. Romanian defence minister Nicolae Ciuca on Tuesday met
general Andre Lanata, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation. Talks
focused on the world crisis generated by the coronavirus outbreak and NATO’s
involvement in managing it, as well as the impact of the health crisis on
allied activities. The Romanian official said his country remains committed to
allocating 2% of its GDP to defence and that the Romanian army continues to
train and carry out exercises together with its partners and to participate in
international missions.

Football. The
football sides FCSB from Bucharest and Sepsi OSK from Sfântu Gheorghe will be
playing the Romanian Cup final on neutral ground in Ploiesti on Wednesday evening.
In the semi-finals, Sepsi defeated CSM Poli Iaşi, while FCSB defeated Dinamo
Bucharest. The domestic championship resumed last month, after being suspended
in March because of the coronavirus outbreak. The current leaders in the
ranking are CSU Craiova followed by the defending champions CFR Cluj. All
football matches in Romania are played without spectators. (CM)