March 29, 2020 UPDATE 2

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Newsroom, 29.03.2020, 19:24

UPDATE 2

1815 cases of Covid-19 infection were reported on Sunday in Romania where 43 people have died. 206 patients have been cured but 12 Romanian nationals have lost their lives abroad, most of them in Italy.

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PANDEMIC According to doctor Alexandru Rafila, chair of the Romanian Society of Microbiology, on Monday Romania may exceed 2 thousand COVID-19 infections, which could prompt the authorities to declare a four-degree alert. The Romanian doctor said that patients should receive proper care outside hospitals so that these facilities may not become overcrowded. According to Rafila 80% of those identified have an easy or mild form of the disease and only 20% are in severe or critical condition. 1760 cases of infection were reported on Sunday in Romania where 42 people have died. 169 patients have been cured but 12 Romanian nationals have lost their lives abroad, most of them in Italy. Health Minister Nelu Tataru said that 200 thousand Romanians returned home and another 200 thousand are expected before Easter. The pandemic is expected to reach its peak in mid-April when the number of infections could reach 10 thousand.

FLIGHTS Between March 30th and April 30th, Romanias national air company TAROM is suspending its flights to Istanbul to comply with the restrictions imposed by the authorities. The aforementioned flights could be rescheduled without additional taxes. TAROM has this week decided to suspend its flights to Germany and France as well as its domestic ones as part of the measures imposed to contain the pandemic. The measure does not apply to the transport of goods, mail, humanitarian or medical aid or equipment. The European Commission in February approved a loan of 36.5 million Euros for TAROM, which is currently facing a shortage of liquidity caused by the rising maintenance costs of its aging fleet.

DRAFT The European Commission is proposing a new multiannual draft budget to cope with the economic consequences of the COVID pandemic, the head of the European Executive, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced according to AFP reports. The European official has added that the draft will include a start plan aimed at guaranteeing cohesion inside the Union through solidarity and responsibility. In a video-conference on Thursday the 27 EU leaders failed to agree upon a firm economic response to this unprecedented crisis currently affecting the region.

COVID Over 30 thousand people have been killed by the coronavirus around the globe as the total number of infections has today exceeded 660 thousand. Over 10 thousand people died in Italy, while the USA reported 2000 deaths. Britain has reported 1000 deaths while Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called on the Brits to stay at home pledging tougher measures to contain the pandemic. China has reported 45 new cases mostly citizens coming from abroad. Air companies have been asked to significantly reduce the number of international flights and restrictions have been imposed to citizens willing to enter the country.

EQUIPMENT A plane of the Romanian Air Force has brought medical equipment from South Korea as part of the Romanian authorities efforts to fight the COVID pandemic. The shipment also includes 100 thousand hazmat suits. In 2008, Romania, as a founding member, signed a memorandum of understanding for the creation of the Multinational Strategic Transport Unit together with other NATO countries like Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia the USA and Hungary as well as two countries from the Partnership for Peace, Finland and Sweden. Also on Saturday, Romanias president Klaus Iohannis and Prime Minister Ludovic Orban paid a visit to a big military camp hospital mounted close to Bucharest. The unit had been previously used in treating infectious diseases such as Ebola and participated in a series of NATO exercises such as Saber Guardian 19 and Vigorous Warrior 19, the biggest medical exercise NATO has so far staged in Romania.

(translated by bill)