August 6, 2020 UPDATE

Romania nears 58,000 coronavirus infections; and other local and international news.

Newsroom, 06.08.2020, 20:00

Education. In Romania
the new pre-university school year will start as usual, on September 14. Three
different options are being considered for how to hold classes, depending on
the rate of infection in each area. According to prime minister Ludovic Orban,
the procedures for the reopening of schools will be finalised within the next
ten days. President Klaus Iohannis says the decision about the partial or total
closing of schools is to be taken by the local authorities, but that most
children will be physically present in classrooms. Education Minister Monica
Anisie says pupils will have to wear face masks in school.

Coronavirus. Almost
58,000 coronavirus infections have been confirmed in Romania since the start of
the outbreak five months ago. Almost 29,000 people have recovered and 2,566
have died. 458 are in intensive care. The authorities have again called on the
population to observe the prevention measures in place and only seek
information from official sources. Countries like Cyprus, Finland and Lithuania
have imposed new restrictions on arrivals from Romania over the surge in the
number of cases in this country. Italy, the UK, Ireland, Norway, Estonia and
Latvia have ordered travellers from Romania to self-isolate for 14 days.

Pandemic world. Global
coronavirus cases pass 19 million, including around 713,000 deaths. The World Health
Organisation officials on Wednesday urged young people to change their behaviour
and observe the precaution measures so as to prevent the further spread of the
virus, given the rising number of infections among young people. Amid a new
surge in the number of cases, countries are imposing more restrictions. On
Thursday, the German health minister Jens Spahn said travellers from high-risk
countries would be tested on arrival starting on Saturday. In Brussels, the
regional government said it may make face masks compulsory in both public
spaces and private spaces accessed by the public if cases continue to rise. The
British government said the UK would quarantine all arrivals from Belgium.

Explosion. Romania’s Embassy in Beirut has received no
information about there being any Romanian citizens among the victims of Tuesday’s
explosion in the Lebanese capital and the Romanian diplomatic mission has
received no request for assistance. The building housing Romania’s Embassy in
Beirut has suffered minor damages and its entire staff is out of danger. 137
people were killed in the explosion, over 5,000 were injured and dozens are
missing. 300,000 people lost their homes. The Lebanese authorities said the
blast was caused by the detonation of more than 2,700 tonnes of ammonium
nitrate, a substance used both in fertilisers for agriculture and in
explosives. At least 21 French citizens are among the dead. President Emmanuel
Macron, who arrived on Thursday in Beirut with a message of support for the
Lebanese people, was hailed as a saviour by the crowds. Macron urged the
Lebanese politicians to initiate the necessary reforms to take the country out
of the unprecedented economic crisis it is going through.

Hiroshima. Hiroshima
marked on Thursday the 75th commemoration of the world’s first
atomic bombing. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres paid tribute to the
victims in a video message and called on all nations to renew efforts to
abolish nuclear weapons. Seventy-five years ago, a single nuclear weapon
visited unspeakable death and destruction upon this city. The effects linger to
this day, he said in his message. On August 6, 1945, a US
bomber dropped the uranium bomb above the city, killing around 140,000 people.
Three days later on August 9, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki,
killing thousands more and forcing Japan to surrender during the Second World
War. It was the last nuclear bomb used in armed conflict.