June 23, 2020
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 23.06.2020, 14:01
COVID -19 RO – In Romania, people infected with the new coronavirus with little or no symptoms at all will be hospitalized for only 10 days, after which they will stay in home isolation for 14 days under the supervision of the family doctor. This is what the health minister Nelu Tataru announced on a private TV station, following reports of intense community spread of the virus. The latest report issued by the Strategic Communication Group shows new cases of infection, which takes the total number of infections to 24,505. Of the people having tested positive for COVID-19, more than 17,100 have recovered and 1,539 have died.
COVID-19 world — The number of COVID-19 infections worldwide is nearing 9.2 million, with 475 thousand people having died. The new coronavirus is spreading at a faster pace, so, in the past 8 days one million new confirmed cases have been reported. The WHO officials say that when the pandemic broke out it took 3 months to report one million cases of contamination, and have warned that political disputes from various states and the lack of solidarity affect the global fight against the pandemic. The US continues to be the most affected country with almost 2.4 million confirmed cases. Nevertheless, the hotbed of the pandemic remains Latin America, where Brazil has reported 1.1 million cases of infection. South Korea has announced that a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has broken out in the Seoul area.
Motion – The Chamber of Deputies is debating today a simple motion initiated by the Social Democrats against the Liberal health minister Nelu Tataru. The Social Democrats accuse him of having failed to properly manage the health crisis, thus placing Romania on top position in a classification of countries from the region rated according to the number of COVID-19 deaths reported in one million inhabitants. The motion signatories also claim that the health ministry is preventing people with chronic diseases from getting specialized treatment. In reply, minister Tataru deplored what he considers the politicization of the health crisis and said that the opposition should get involved in solving the situation in a constructive manner. The vote on the motion is scheduled for Wednesday.
Weather — The weather in Romania remains unsettled, with warning of torrential rains and storms. The highs of the day range from 21 to 29 degrees C. The noon reading in Bucharest was 25 decrees C. A great part of Romania is under a code orange alert for unsettled weather and torrential rainfalls. The amount of water is going to exceed 40l/sq.m. Also thunderstorms, gales and hailstorms will be reported mainly in the east and southeast.
Meeting – The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is meeting today in Bucharest with the PM Orban and other ministers to discuss economic issues. The meeting takes place after, on Monday, the Liberal leadership talked about a new program for economic recovery after the crisis caused by the pandemic, which the government is going to finalize and implement.
Flights — 5 new countries: Finland, Italy, Estonia, Ireland and France have been added to the list of so-called ‘green states’ from where people with no symptoms arriving in Romania no longer need to self-isolate for 14 days. Therefore, flights to and from these countries can be resumed, according to a decision of the National Committee for Emergency Situations. Quarantine measures also ended as of June 15 for the people coming to Romania from another 17 states, flights between Romania and these countries having already been resumed. (tr. Lacramioara Simion)
