November 22, 2021

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 22.11.2021, 13:55

COVID-19
– In Romania, the number of daily infections continues to drop. 1,550 new cases
were reported in the last 24 hours, in addition to 154 related fatalities, of
which 29 were reported prior to the reference period. Some 11,000 people are
being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals across Romania, of whom 1,539 in
intensive care. The rate of infection now stands at 3.5 at national level, and
over half the counties are out of the red zone. The head of the national
vaccination campaign, Valeriu Gheorghiță, says the risk the difficulties
reported in Germany, which is now in the 5th wave of the pandemic,
repeating in Romania is high, considering the vaccination rate in our country
is low. An even higher risk is posed by the possible emergence of a new strain
of the virus, Gheorghiță went on to say. Some 7.2 million people have completed
the vaccination scheme.

PROTESTS – Protests were staged in Bucharest and other large cities on Sunday
against anti-COVID-19 restrictions. In Craiova, people quoted articles in the
Constitution regarding individual freedom and freedom of expression, whereas in
Constanța, people protested against making the green certificate mandatory.
More and more European states have started introducing lockdowns and harsh
restrictions to keep the pandemic at bay amidst a resurge of the number of
infections. At the same time, more and more protests are being staged in these
countries against health safety regulations.

SCHOOL -Some 2.6 million pre-school and
school children are attending school physically this week. The National
Committee for Emergency Situations approved the request of the Education
Ministry, calling for physical class attendance in towns and villages where the
incidence rate is below 3 per thousand inhabitants, irrespective of the rate of
vaccination in schooling units. In areas where the incidence rate is above 3
per thousand classes will move online, with the exception of schooling units
where 60% of teaching staff have taken the anti-COVID jab. Faced with the
teachers’ reluctance to get involved in the testing of pupils, the Education
Ministry decided that each schooling unit must decide if the test is carried
out at school or at home. The first COVID tests are expected to be delivered by
the end of the week.

CONSULTATIONS
– Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, is today holding consultations with
parliamentary parties with a view to appointing a new Prime Minister. The president will meet with representatives
of PNL, PSD, UDMR and national minority groups, which announced will take part
in the consultations together. The president will then meet a delegation of
AUR. USR refused to take part. Ahead of the talks, PNL and PSD held internal
meetings approving the list of ministries and the governing program. The
Social-Democrats announced PNL will nominate the Prime Minister for the first
rotation, whereas PSD will hold 9 ministries and the Government Secretariat.
PNL has nominated former general Nicolae Ciucă. The latter was previously
appointed to form a new Cabinet, but resigned shortly afterwards. Before him,
USR president, Dacian Cioloș, was also appointed Prime Minister, but failed to
rally support for his cabinet. We recall the minority PNL-UDMR government led
by Liberal leader, Florin Cîțu, was ousted following a no-confidence vote,
after USR withdrew from the ruling coalition.

MOLDOVA – The president of the Republic
of Moldova, Maia Sandu, will pay an official visit to Romania on November 23, when
she will meet president Klaus Iohannis. Talks will focus on consolidating
bilateral cooperation at political, economic and sectorial level, as well as
strategic projects in the fields of energy, transport, healthcare, education
and IT. The Romanian Presidency says the meeting will also address Romania’s
support for Moldova’s reforms and European integration efforts. The two officials
will also sign a roadmap for cooperation in priority fields as well as an
agreement between the two countries’ governments on the mutual recognition of
academic diplomas, certificates and titles. The visit marks 30 years of
diplomatic ties between Romania and the Republic of Moldova, celebrated in
2021.

INCIDENT
– Five people were killed and over 40 were wounded on Sunday after a car ploughed
into a crowd of people during a Christmas pageant held in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
One person was arrested and the vehicle was recovered after the incident. The
authorities are not treating the incident as a terrorist attack. In 2015, four
people were killed and 46 wounded in Oklahoma when a woman ploughed into a
crowd of football fans attending a local parade. (VP)