July 3, 2021 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 03.07.2021, 19:50
Covid – The entire territory of Romania remains in the so-called green scenario related to the spread of the new coronavirus. 401 infected people are still in hospital, of whom 66 in intensive care. The authorities on Saturday announced 58 new cases of COVID-19, out of more than 23,000 tests performed in 24 hours. 4 deaths were reported in the same interval, besides another 27 from the past months.
Vaccines — Ireland has agreed in principle to buy one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Romania – a spokesman for the Irish government said, days after Romania sold another million doses of the vaccine to Denmark. The doses available in Romania exceed the demand for vaccination from the Romanian population, where vaccination reticence is spreading due to rooted distrust in state institutions, misinformation campaigns and lack of public awareness – international media report. Ireland currently has one of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in Europe. About 45% of its adult population of 3.8 million people was fully vaccinated and 65% with at least the first dose. The Irish government hopes that its decision to speed up youth vaccination will slow the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus and will allow for the reopening of the lagging economy.
National register — The Romanian police have launched a national register with the names of those who have committed sexual crimes or exploited people. The information in the register can reach courts, authorities, schools, health and social protection institutions, as well as organizations whose activity involves direct contact with children, the elderly and people with disabilities. Such a register had been requested for several years by NGOs involved in victim protection. On the other hand, criminal liability for crimes of trafficking and exploitation, sexual assault, and torture of children is no longer prescribed in Romania — according to a law promulgated on Thursday by President Klaus Iohannis. The law amends articles of the Criminal Code and also stipulates that the punishment for failing to report such crimes is increased and criminalizes the failure to report such crimes as trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable persons or crimes against the freedom and sexual integrity of a child or resulting in the death of a child.
Tennis — The Romanian player Sorana Cîrstea (45 WTA) was defeated on Saturday by the British player Emma Răducanu (338 WTA), whose father is Romanian, in the third round of the Wimbledon tennis tournament, the year’s 3rd Grand Slam tournament. Cîrstea was the last Romanian woman left in the womens singles. In the doubles, the Romanian-Ukrainian pair Raluca Olaru / Nadia Kichenok, reached the eighth finals, where they will take on the pair Storm Sanders / Caroline Dolehide.
Explosion – The blast at the Petromidia Refinery in Năvodari, in southeastern Romania, following which one man died and five were injured, was allegedly caused by faulty equipment – says the management of ROMPETROL, the owner of the refinery. The fire at the largest refinery in the country broke out on Friday and was put out following the firefighters’ difficult intervention. The cloud of smoke caused by the fire and the noxious emissions in the atmosphere moved towards the Black Sea. The Interior Minister, Lucian Bode, who went to the fire site, said that the inhabitants of Năvodari and the tourists on the Seaside, in full summer season, have not been in danger during the fire. Prosecutors have opened a criminal file for manslaughter, physical injury through negligence, and damage caused by negligence. According to them, the situation in this case is more complicated, requiring technical knowledge to clarify the causes. On the other hand, a fire broke out, on Saturday afternoon, at an aluminum warehouse of a factory in the industrial area of Constanţa (also in southeastern Romania). (LS)
