March 8, 2020 UPDATE
Click here for an update on domestic and international news
Newsroom, 08.03.2020, 19:17
Government — The Romanian Parliament’s leadership will establish on Monday the date of the vote of investiture for the new cabinet proposed by the PM designate, the Liberal Florin Citu. The joint session may be scheduled for next Friday at the latest. The Liberals would like the vote to take place sooner, and their leader, the acting PM Ludovic Orban, has said that, during the vote, the Liberal senators and deputies will act in line with the Constitution. He has made this clarification after the re-designation as the new PM of Ludovic Orban, dismissed in February through a motion of no confidence, was contested by the PSD at the Constitutional Court. The Court ruled his re-designation as unconstitutional, invoking the avowed intention of the Liberals and of the president Klaus Iohannis to hold early elections and not to gather a majority in Parliament meant to cast the investiture vote. The Social Democrats who have the biggest number of MPs announced they would make sure a quorum is obtained and will vote against the new government. To be invested, Citu’s government needs 233 votes.
Coronavirus — 15 cases of coronavirus infection have been reported on Romania’s territory until Sunday. 5 patients have been declared cured and have been discharged from hospital. According to data published by the Strategic Communication Group, another 11 people are in institutionalized quarantine and almost 13 thousand are in quarantine at their homes and monitored. Also the authorities have taken drastic measures to contain the spreading of COVID-19. Public and private events attended by more than one thousand people will be banned until March 31. Another measure forbids access to hospitals of the patients’ relatives as well as of the medical students. The Board of the Romanian Publishers Association decided to cancel the 9th edition of the Bookfest Book Fair in Timisoara (west) which had been scheduled for the period March 12-15. Many universities from Romania have suspended courses and the Football Professional League and Federation decided that all matches in the month of March should take place without spectators. The authorities also recommend the Romanian citizens to avoid travelling to the areas affected by the new coronavirus and they call on the Romanian citizens from the areas affected by COVID-19 not to come back to Romania in order to protect their families. The Romanian citizens who come from the affected areas might be subjected to quarantine measures or self-isolation for 14 days. The measures are temporary and depend on the evolution of COVID-19 at world level.
COVID-19 — The Italian government has announced exceptional measures to contain the spreading of the virus in Italy, the European country most affected by the new coronavirus. 16 million people from 15 regions in northern Italy have been quarantined as of Sunday. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent to Rome, education institutions will remain closed across Italy until April 3 as well as museums, theaters, cinema halls and all public spaces where people cannot keep a distance of 1 meter among each other. So far, thousands of cases of infection with COVID-19 have been reported in Europe, mostly in Italy, France, Germany, Spain and Great Britain. The World Health Organization has reiterated its appeal to all countries of the world to make fighting the new coronavirus their top priority, claiming that containing the spreading of the epidemic is key to finding a treatment. The virus has spread to almost 100 countries, contaminating more than 106 thousand people. Around 3,600 people have died, mostly in China.
Handball — Romania’s women’s handball team CS Gloria 2018 Bistrita Nasaud was eliminated from the EHF Cup by the Danish team Herning Ikast Handbald that defeated the Romanians on home ground 28-26 on Sunday, in the second leg of the quarter finals. The Danish team had also won the first leg 29-26. In exchange, Romania’s women’s handball champions SCM Ramnicu Valcea (south) and vice-champions CSM Bucharest have qualified to the quarter finals of the Champions League. After the matches in the main groups ended on Saturday, both Romanian teams ended on 4th position, the last one that still allowed them access to the quarter finals. In the men’s competition, Romania’s champions Dinamo Bucharest defeated in both legs the Portuguese team Sporting Lisbon in the playoffs of the Champions League, and managed a historic qualification to the round of 16. In the next stage, Dinamo Bucharest will take on Paris Saint-Germain. (update by L. Simion)
