July 19, 2021

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Newsroom, 19.07.2021, 13:55

WEATHER Yellow and orange-code alerts for heavy rainfall are in place in Romania, with unstable weather expected until at least midweek. Thunderstorms will first hit the south-west, west, centre and north of the country, and spread to the south and south-east beginning on Tuesday. The extreme weather has caused major damages in the west of the country over the past few days, with several parts of Alba County affected by flash floods.

FLOODING The death toll of the disastrous flooding in Western Europe is over 190, as many missing people are found dead. Germany reports the largest number of victims. Chancellor Angela Merkel visited some of the worst hit regions, and promised immediate aid from the federal government for reconstruction works, while also pledging more efforts will be made to fight climate change. The EU has announced it would provide aid both to Germany and to the other countries affected by floods, such as Belgium and the Netherlands. In Belgium, more than 30 people are dead and others are missing. Italy also sees heavy rainfalls causing floods in the northern and southern parts of the country.

COVID-19 The Romanian health minister Ioana Mihăilă said the 4th wave of the Covid-19 pandemic will affect unvaccinated people, and said less than 1% of those who have got the vaccine caught the disease. Ioana Mihăilă urged even those who recovered from the disease to get the vaccine, arguing that this would prevent a severe form of the Covid-19, even when the Delta variant is involved. In spite of continuing public campaigns promoting vaccination, the target of 5 million fully vaccinated Romanians is yet to be reached, over one and a half months after the deadline set by authorities. Meanwhile, 44 new infection cases were reported on Sunday in Romania, out of close to 19,000 tests. One new COVID-related death has also been reported, and 30 patients are in intensive care out of the 255 currently in hospital.

GALA The UNITER Awards Gala, rewarding the best Romanian theatre performances, is hosted by the National Theatre in Bucharest tonight. This is the 29th edition of the event, held annually since 1991. A jury makes the nominations for each category, while a separate jury votes the winner of each award.

FESTIVAL Tickets for the 25th George Enescu International Festival are available as of today. The festival, scheduled to take place between 28 August and 26 September, brings to Bucharest 3,500 Romanian and foreign artists. Healthcare measures will be in place this year, to protect the public, the artists, the organisers and journalists. Some of the worlds most celebrated orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the National Orchestra of France conducted by the Romanian Cristian Măcelaru, and the Munich Philharmonic conducted by Valery Gergiev, will take part in this years festival, alongside world-famous soloists like violinists Maxim Vengerov, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Joshua Bell, cellist Alisa Weilerstein and pianists Denis Matsuev, Jean Yves Thibaudet and Kirill Gerstein.

AGRICULTURE The Romanian agriculture minister Adrian Oros takes part today in the first meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council held under Slovenian presidency. One of the main topics on the agenda is the action plan for the development of organic agriculture. The European Commissions “Farm to Fork Strategy presented in 2020 aims at earmarking at least 25% of the blocs farmland for organic agriculture by 2030.

PANDEMIC Greece reintroduces COVID-19 restrictions in spite of the tourist season being in full swing. According to Radio Romanias correspondent in Athens, several Greek islands deemed free of COVID-19 are introducing night curfews and banning the access of unvaccinated people in restaurants and clubs. The Greek government will also make vaccination compulsory for several categories of employees. France tightens access restrictions for travelers from certain countries, including the UK, Spain, Greece and the Netherlands, who will be required to get tested 24 hours prior to arriving in the country. On the other hand, England lifted all restrictions today, in spite of alarming increases in the number of Delta variant infections. London argues that containment measures cannot be kept in place forever, and the vaccines provide protection. (tr. A.M. Popescu)