August 5, 2021 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 05.08.2021, 19:50

Covid-19 Romania.
Secretary of state with the Romanian Interior Ministry, Raed Arafat, reiterated
the need for the population to get the Covid vaccine and keep wearing facemasks to
reduce the risk of infection with the novel coronavirus. In an interview on Radio
Romania, he explained that there is a real threat of daily cases rising, but that
everyone can help contain the spread of the virus. He pointed out that no further
restrictions are being considered, but that if Romania passes 2 cases per 1,000
inhabitants, the rules in force before August 1 would be re-instated, and if it
passes 3 cases per 1,000 inhabitants, then measures will be further tightened.
Meanwhile, the number of new cases is growing. 244 new infections from 28,000
tests and two deaths were reported on Thursday. 72 Covid patients are receiving
intensive care treatment. Romania was moved to the green list of countries for
entering the UK, which means travellers from Romania will no longer have to
isolate, whether they are vaccinated or not. However, they must still present a
negative PCR test taken before entering the UK and take another test two days after arrival.
The measure will come into effect on Sunday.

Government.
The government approved in a meeting on Thursday the
extension of the state of alert in Romania for a further thirty days from 11th
August. According to prime minister Florin Cîţu, this will not be accompanied by new restrictions. Also
on Thursday, the
government approved a decision to donate Covid vaccine to Tunisia, Egypt,
Albania and Vietnam, said prime minister Florin Cîţu.
He said Romania will also provide assistance to Greece to help extinguish its
wildfires, by deploying a team of firefighters.

Exercise. More than 350 army divers from Romania, Azerbaijan,
Bulgaria, Georgia, the US and Ukraine are participating in a multinational
training exercise off the Romanian Black Sea Coast. The Eurasian Partnership
MCM Dive exercise, which will last 4 days, is led by the Romanian Navy’s 39 Diving
Centre. The Romanian Navy also participates in the drill with the Vice Admiral
Constantin Bălescu minesweeper, the Captain Commander Alexandru Cătuneanu
Hydrographic Survey Vessel and with an autonomous underwater vehicle. Ukraine
participates with the Oleksandr Okhrimenko salvage ship. The exercise is
designed to improve operational and tactical interoperability among the
participating units.

Fires.
The heat wave persists in several European countries, which have been fighting
vegetation fires for a number of days. The authorities are on alert in Greece,
where flames threatened the capital Athens on Wednesday. In Turkey, the damage
is huge, and a thermal plant threatened by flames has been evacuated. Forest
fires are also spreading in Bulgaria, where two forest rangers have died and a
third has been injured. Italy, Albania and North Macedonia are also struggling with wildfires. The European Commission promised to send planes, helicopters and
firefighters to Italy, Greece, Albania and North Macedonia to help these
countries fight the fires.

Olympics. Five
Romanian wrestlers are competing in the Tokyo Olympics: Alin
Alexuc-Ciurariu in Greco-Roman wrestling and four wrestlers in freestyle: Alina
Vuc, Andreea Beatrice Ana, Kriszta Tunde Incze and Albert Saritov, who won a
bronze medal at the Rio Games. First-time Olympian Andreea Beatrice Ana was
defeated today by two-time world champion and European champion Vanesa Kaladzinskaya
of Belarus by technical superiority. Romania so far won four medals at the Tokyo
Games, one gold and three silver. (CM)