August 20, 2021
A news roundup
Newsroom, 20.08.2021, 13:55
COVID Ro – The daily number of new coronavirus cases in Romania is increasing. 628 new cases were reported on Friday. At the same time, the death toll recorded over the past 24 hours reached 14. As many as 1,200 patients are currently in hospitals, of whom over 167 are in intensive care. The pace of the national vaccination campaign against Covid-19 remains low, just over 5 million Romanians having been fully vaccinated since December last year. On the other hand, the Romanian Government on Thursday approved a decision on granting humanitarian aid, free of charge, to the Republic of Korea, consisting of 450,000 doses of Moderna vaccine.
Kabul – 14 Romanian citizens have today arrived at the Kabul international airport and are ready for evacuation by air — the Romanian Foreign Ministry officials report. They are employees of a security company operating in Afghanistan and have been in a military base. The 14 will be evacuated with the next flight of the Romanian military aircraft currently stationed in Islamabad. This is the 3rd such evacuation flight after last night’s flight when another Romanian citizen, a NATO agency employee, was evacuated together with a Bulgarian, a Briton and an American. A first evacuation flight of a Romanian citizen, also an employee of a NATO agency, took place on Wednesday night with a Romanian military aircraft, which brought him to Islamabad. The aircraft will continue to be stationed in the Pakistani capital, being ready to travel to Kabul for the evacuation of other Romanian citizens, when they arrive at the international airport. The Romanian authorities are in permanent contact with the Romanian citizens located in various places in Kabul. 33 Romanian citizens are reported to be in Afghanistan at present, more than half being employees of a NATO agency, a UN program and a security company. At the same time, steps have already been taken to identify and contact the Afghan citizens who collaborated with the Romanian troops during their mission in Afghanistan or the Afghan citizens currently benefiting from Romanian scholarship or who have been accepted to study in Romania. To the extent that they can reach the airport in Kabul, they will be evacuated by a Romanian aircraft.
Greece – Romania has decided to send another 142 firefighters to Greece to help put out the fires — the Romanian PM Florin Cîţu announced in a Facebook post. He said he made the decision together with the interior minister, and the countrys president, Klaus Iohannis, had been briefed on their decision. A vegetation fire intensified by the change of the wind direction has been active for several days west of Athens. The fire is difficult to put out because, according to the Greek Minister of Citizen Protection, there are no roads or routes through the pine forests in the region which the firefighters and their vehicles can use to reach the fire outbreak. We remind you that, two weeks ago, 108 Romanian firefighters with over 20 special vehicles were deployed in Greece, in Evia, to help put out the vegetation fires that were devastating the island. The way the Romanian firefighters acted was appreciated by the population, their Greek colleagues and the press.
Sibiu festival – Sibiu, in central Romania, is hosting, as of Friday, the 28th edition of the International Theater Festival, the biggest such event dedicated to the arts in Romania and one of the most important in Europe. For 10 days the public will have the chance to attend more than 600 theater and dance shows, concerts and workshops in such venues as fortresses and historical sites. 2,000 artists from 38 countries are participating in the festival. The Sibiu Festival will take place both with physical attendance and in hybrid and online formats. 40 events have been scheduled for Friday, the festival’s first day, involving artists from 15 countries. (LS)
