April 13, 2021

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 13.04.2021, 13:55

COVID-19 IN
ROMANIA – 3,883 new COVID-19 infections have been reported in the last 24 hours
in Romania, the Group for Strategic Communication announced on Tuesday. 193
related fatalities have also been confirmed during the interval. 13,661 people infected
with SARS-CoV-2 are currently hospitalized, 1,530 of whom are in intensive
care. Since the start of the pandemic over a million infections have been
reported in Romania, 90% of the people who got infected having recovered. Over
1.5 million Romanians have already taken both doses of the anti-COVID vaccine.

COVID-19 IN THE
WORLD – The total number of COVID-19 infections has exceeded 137 million people
worldwide, 110 million people have recovered and 3 million people have died,
the latest worldometers.info update reveals. Over a third of the victims have
been reported in Europe, where the death toll has exceeded 1 million people,
making it the continent with the largest number of COVID-related fatalities,
ahead of Latin America and the Caribbean, the United States and Canada, the
Middle East and Africa.

INVESTIGATION
– Romanian authorities have launched an investigation at the Victor Babeş
Infectious Disease Hospital in Bucharest, where three patients suffering from
COVID-19 died on Monday. The head of the Department for Emergency Situations,
Raed Arafat, said the patients died after a malfunction was reported in the
oxygen supply system of the mobile unit where they were treated. Another five
patients who survived have been transferred to other hospitals. Raed Arafat
said some 155 patients needed oxygen on Monday in emergency units in hospitals.
There are over 1,500 people currently in intensive care across the country.

INFLATION -
The annual inflation rate in Romania has dropped to 3.1% in March, from 3.2% in
February, the National Statistics Institute reports. Price hikes were reported
for non-food products, 4.37%, foodstuffs, 1.59% and services, 2.21%. The
National Bank of Romania estimates an inflation rate of 2% at the end of the
first quarter of the year and 2.5% for the end of the year.

UNESCO – A panel
discussion entitled Romania’s UNESCO world heritage – challenges and
solutions is today hosted by the Romanian Parliament, an event marking 65
years since Romania joined UNESCO. The attendance list includes the speakers of
the two chambers of Parliament, representatives of the Romanian Academy and the
Romanian Cultural Institute, of the National Heritage Institute and the
Romanian UNESCO National Commission. The UNESCO World Heritage list also
includes a number of cultural sites from Romania, such as churches in Moldavia,
Horezu monastery, fortified churches in Transylvania, Dacian citadels in Orăștiei Mountains, the Sighișoara
Historical Center, wooden churches in Maramureș, as well as natural sites – the
Danube Delta, old-growth birch forests in the Carpathian mountains.

POVERTY – Over
a third of Romanian parents in vulnerable communities in the rural area can fully
or partially provide meals for their families, according to a survey conducted
in poverty-stricken communities in 2020 by World Vision Romania, an
organization conducting emergency humanitarian programmes, with a focus on
children welfare. According to the source, 41% of respondents were forced to
cut back on family spending, one of the main reasons being that over a quarter
of parents in the rural area were left without a job and, by extension, without
a source of income, also forced with the impossibility of finding employment
due to pandemic-related restrictions. 1 in 10 children in rural areas goes to
sleep on an empty stomach almost every day, the World Vision Romania survey
also shows. (V.P.)