December 3, 2020
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 03.12.2020, 13:55
Covid-19 Ro — The national anti-COVID-19 vaccination strategy, which was already approved by the government, has been submitted for approval to the country’s Supreme Defense Council (CSAT). The online CSAT meeting is chaired by President Klaus Iohannis. The first stage of the strategy provides for the vaccination of the health care personnel, the staff of residential, medical and social centers and the vulnerable people. The vaccination of the entire population will start in spring at the earliest. The authorities will use only the vaccines authorized by the European Medicines Agency.
Covid-19 Romania — 7,661 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Romania in the past 24 hours, according to data published today by the Strategic Communication Group. So far 492,211 people have been contaminated with SARS-CoV-2. A record number of people 211 have died in the past 24 hours from COVID-19 and 1,252 patients are in ICUs. The Romanian PM Ludovic Orban has today said that the number of people recovering from Covid-19 is getting higher than the number of people getting contaminated by the day. He visited the first Bucharest-based private hospital that has today entered the COVID-19 support hospital network. The hospital will provide 30 ICU beds and another 30 beds equipped with oxygen generators.
OSCE – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, is participating today in the 27th video-conference session of the OSCE Ministerial Council organized by Albania, the country holding the presidency of the organization. According to a Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE) communiqué, the meeting takes place at a moment marked by many crises such as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the crisis in Belarus or the security situation in eastern Ukraine. In his speech, the Romanian FM will focus on the developments in the European security domain reported in the past year, highlighting the OSCE’s three domains of competence: the political and military, economic and environmental and human dimensions. Minister Aurescu will reiterate Romania’s firm support for the OSCE’s role in the context of the crises in Ukraine and Belarus as well as in solving the prolonged conflicts in the region.
Handball — Romania’s national women’s handball team will take on the team of Germany this evening, in the opening of the European Championship final hosted by Denmark. The two teams are in Group D, which takes place in the city of Kolding. With many players contaminated with the new coronavirus, Romania’s team will play next against Poland on December 5 and Norway on December 7. The three best-ranked teams in the group will qualify to the next stage.
EC – The European Commission has called on member states to rapidly appoint delegated prosecutors to allow the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to start its activity on March 1, 2021. The European Prosecutor’s Office is headed by Romanian Laura Codruţa Kovesi the former head of the National Anticorruption Directorate, and will investigate cases of European funds fraud. Laura Codruţa Kovesi and the 22 prosecutors from the EU member states were already sworn in September, but the institution cannot operate unless participating states appoint delegated prosecutors. (tr. L. Simion)
