April 2, 2021

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 02.04.2021, 13:55

PANDEMIC The World Health Organisation
has criticized the sluggish pace of Europe’s vaccine rollout, also mentioning
the latest surge in coronavirus infections. The statement was made by the WHO
European branch several days ahead of the Catholic Easter. Immunization and
restrictions remain the main solutions to contain the spread of the more
contagious variants, which have become dominant in countries like France, Spain
or Germany. On Thursday, authorities in Berlin reported over 24 thousand new
cases and over 200 Covid-related fatalities. In Spain, which has a major
community of Romanians, the infection rate exceeded 150 cases per one hundred
thousand people and in some regions indoor bars and restaurants have been
closed. Travel restrictions have been imposed in these days when Spain is celebrating
the Holy Week without street events for the second time in a row. In Greece,
where the number of active cases and infections isn’t going down, authorities
have decided to open shops under very strict medical protocols after six weeks
of lockdown. According to worldometers
over 130 million people have been infected with the novel coronavirus and 2.8
million have died since the beginning of the pandemic.

EASTER Roman-Catholic and protestant
believers the world over, including from Romania are celebrating the most
important Christian holiday, the Lord’s Resurrection, on April 4th, a month
before the Orthodox believers. This is for the second year when Pope Francis,
leader of the Catholic believers from all over the world, will deliver a mass
in front of a lower number of participants because of the pandemic. On the Good
Friday, Pope Francis is expected to commemorate Christ’s passions and crucifixion.
The Way of the Cross will not be observed according to tradition at the
Colosseum, but in front of the St. Peter Basilica just like a year ago. In
spite of the lockdown imposed in Italy, churches are open and citizens can
attend religious services close to their homes.

VACCINE Romania’s vaccine rollout is in
full swing with over 2 million people vaccinated. Half of these have also got
the booster dose. 432 thousand dozes of Astra Zeneca vaccine are expected to
arrive in Bucharest today. The country’s president Klaus Iohannis has announced
that in the following period Romania will receive a significant quantity of
vaccine and the rollout can be stepped up. The head of the Romanian state has
urged the Romanians to trust the benefits of immunization. In turn, National
Defence Minister Nicolae Ciuca announced that 15 new vaccination centers are to
become available as of April 5th. On Friday Romania registered a new all-time
high in the number of patients in intensive care 1,454. Over 5800 new
infections have been reported at national level and 146 related fatalities.
Roughly one million Romanians have been infected since the onset of the
pandemic and the death toll stands at 24 thousand. The Ilfov county close to
the capital Bucharest has reported the largest aggregated number of infections
9.45 cases per thousand in the past 14 days. Capital Bucharest has an infection
rate slightly above 7 per thousand while another 12 counties have been included
in the so-called red zone with over 3 cases per thousand. In Cluj Napoca,
north-western Romania, tougher restrictions are being applied as of today as
the 7.5 rate has been exceeded. A curfew between 20 pm and 5 am will be applied
over the weekend in the regions with an infection rate above four cases. In
these regions shops are to be closed at 18 hours. At a rate above 7.5 cases,
these measures are applied throughout the week, not only at weekends.

PROTESTS Restrictions imposed by the authorities in Romania to contain the
pandemic sparked off new protests on Thursday for the fifth day in a row. They
were not as big as the previous ones but during them the protesters have again voiced
their discontent towards limited shopping hours, the curfew and the compulsory
face covering in open spaces. According to the authorities the aforementioned measures
are needed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

(bill)