December 16, 2021 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 16.12.2021, 20:12
COVID-19 Romania on Thursday reported 812 new Covid infections and 84 related fatalities, including 19 from an earlier date. The fortnightly incidence rate in Bucharest continues to drop, now standing at 0.77 cases per 1,000 inhabitants. Three new Omicron cases have been identified, with the total number reaching 11. The European Commission said it expects this new variant to become dominant in the European Union by mid-January. The Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said she was, however, confident that the Union has the strength and means to overcome the disease. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control warned that the rapid increase in Omicron cases is imminent and that vaccination alone will not prevent transmission. To reduce the burden on healthcare systems, the Centre has again called for a fast reintroduction and consolidation of the so-called non-pharmaceutical interventions.
PROTEST Romanian policemen from the Europol trade union on Thursday staged a protest rally in front of the Interior Ministry in Bucharest. They are denouncing the executive for not getting involved in the salary law adding they havent received a pay rise since 2007. Trade union leaders have cautioned that unless they get a positive answer to their claims, policemen will not accept to enforce the interdictions imposed by the pandemic. Sanitas, a trade union federation in the medical sector, has also called on the government to give up the idea of freezing salaries in state enterprises.
POLL The Army, the Romanian Academy and the Church are coming first in a poll on the institutions most trusted by the Romanians – says the Religious Life Barometer in December this year. The survey has been conducted by the Institute for Political Sciences and International Relations of the Romanian Academy jointly with the Sociological Research Center LARICS. According to it, 67% of the Romanians trust the army and 65% the Academy. Over 62% have confidence in the Church. Next come the city halls of the respondents and the police. Only 20% of the respondents say they trust the media while 15% in the presidency. Last in the ranking come the political parties with 9%.
EVENTS The 32nd anniversary of the start of the Romanian anti-communist revolution of 1989 was being marked on Thursday in Timişoara, the city in western Romania where the uprising began. An open door event was held at the Revolution Memorial and pupils from 15 schools laid flowers at the monuments of those killed in the revolution. Other commemorative events included the screening of a film called “Remember 89” and a rally held under the motto Heroes Never Die. The day ended with a folk concert and a midnight church service. December 17th is going to be a mourning day in Timişoara. The anti-communist uprising that would go on to spread across the country and lead to the fall of the communist regime began in this city on 16th December 1989, when a group of demonstrators blocked traffic and then marched to the city centre chanting anti-regime slogans. The first arrests were made and the following day the army opened fire on the protesters.
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