April 20, 2021 UPDATE

VISIT Romania remains the foremost ally of Moldovan citizens, and proof in this respect is the substantial help provided for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, said the president of Romania Klaus Iohannis at a meeting on Tuesday in Bucharest with the president of the R. of Moldova, Maia Sandu. The two officials analysed the progress in implementing the projects discussed during the Romanian presidents visit to Chişinău at the end of December. This year Romania has donated 2.3 million euro worth of medical and COVID-19 protection equipment to Moldova, as well as over 200,000 vaccine doses. Klaus Iohannis reiterated Romanias firm support for the reforms promoted by Maia Sandu, in line with the bilateral Strategic Partenership and with the privileged relations between the 2 states. Klaus Iohannis also said Bucharest would continue to support Moldovas EU accession efforts. In turn, Maia Sandu thanked Romania for its support, and underscored that efforts would be carried on to implement democratic and European reforms in that ex-Soviet republic.

Newsroom, 20.04.2021, 19:25

VISIT Romania remains the foremost ally of Moldovan citizens, and proof in this respect is the substantial help provided for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, said the president of Romania Klaus Iohannis at a meeting on Tuesday in Bucharest with the president of the R. of Moldova, Maia Sandu. The two officials analysed the progress in implementing the projects discussed during the Romanian presidents visit to Chişinău at the end of December. This year Romania has donated 2.3 million euro worth of medical and COVID-19 protection equipment to Moldova, as well as over 200,000 vaccine doses. Klaus Iohannis reiterated Romanias firm support for the reforms promoted by Maia Sandu, in line with the bilateral Strategic Partenership and with the privileged relations between the 2 states. Klaus Iohannis also said Bucharest would continue to support Moldovas EU accession efforts. In turn, Maia Sandu thanked Romania for its support, and underscored that efforts would be carried on to implement democratic and European reforms in that ex-Soviet republic.

COVID-19 On Tuesday Romania reported over 2.900 new Covid infections, out of 36,100 tests carried out. The number of patients admitted to COVID hospitals has been dropping, as has the number of patients in IC units, which are less than 15 hundred. However, the number of fatalities remains still high, 237, a record since the onset of the pandemic. Bucharest and 7 counties are still in the red zone with over 3 cases per thousand in the past 14 days. Over 2.7 million people in Romania have been vaccinated since the vaccines were rolled out in late December, and more than 1.6 million have got the booster dose. Several mobile vaccination centers are to be made available these days in rural areas, and a mobile hospital unit in the country’s east will be reopened. The unit will have 104 beds available for COVID patients and a 48-bed IC ward.

MEETING The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu Tuesday
chaired the 33rd meeting of the Governing Council of the Community
of Democracies (CoD), held online over 20-21 April. Bogdan Aurescu underscored
the need to step up and improve the efficiency of the international community’s
efforts to strengthen democratic systems. He also reiterated Romania’s full
commitment to promoting gender equality, including by observing and
implementing the relevant international instruments.

J&J The European Medicines Agency (EMA) Tuesday confirmed “possible links between the Johnson & Johnson anti-COVID-19 vaccine and very rare blood clotting cases in adults having received this vaccine in the US. The Agency said however that benefits outweigh risks and supports the use of the product in the EU. The EMA Safety Committee requested however that the product information should include this warning. The EMA also mentioned that all the 8 cases of this type reported in the US occurred among adults under 60, mostly women, in the first 3 weeks after receiving the vaccine.

FOOTBALL The executive Committee of the European Football Union UEFA has ruled that Romania host the 2025 edition of the European Under-19 Championship, the Romanian Football Federation has announced. This years competition was supposed to take place in Romania over June 30th and July 13th but it has been cancelled by UEFA due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Romania’s U-19 team, under the guidance of headcoach Daniel Oprescu, is already qualified for the competition as the host country. Romania also hosted the tournament back in 2011. (tr. A.M. Popescu, bill)