November 3, 2021

Covid — 10,196 SARS-CoV-2 infections in 24 hours were reported by the Romanian authorities on Wednesday. 451 Romanians have died, two of the deaths being reported outside the reference interval. Over 19 thousand Covid patients are hospitalized, of whom 1,890 in intensive care. The Covid-19 incidence rate in Bucharest calculated over a period of 14 days stands at 12.89 cases per thousand inhabitants, according to the Public Health Directorate. It is the 12th day in which this rate goes down in Bucharest, the highest rate, namely 16.54 having been reached on October 22. Although the number of new cases has decreased in recent days across the country, the health system will remain under pressure for at least another two weeks – the authorities warn.

Aid — The difficult situation of Romanian hospitals has prompted many countries to come to their aid. On Tuesday, Israel sent ten oxygen concentrators, the first in a tranche of 40. The devices will be distributed to medical units that treat Covid patients. Romania has also received support consisting of medicines, equipment and medical staff from Europe – the Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Denmark and the Republic of Moldova. Patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, who were in a critical condition, were transferred to medical units in Germany for treatment. Both Austria and Hungary have taken over patients to be cared for in their hospitals.

Government — The National Liberal Party – PNL, the number one in the caretaker government in Bucharest, has announced that negotiations start today with Save Romania Union – USR, a former junior partner in the government, and with the opposition Social Democratic Party – PSD, which has the largest parliamentary group, in order to establish a possible majority in parliament. The announcement comes after the Liberal Party leadership opted for what it called the flexibility of the negotiating mandate, because the Liberal Prime Minister designate, Nicolae Ciucă, did not obtain support for a minority government made up of PNL-UDMR (Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania) and relinquished his mandate. PSD is considering entering the government, but does not rule out any scenario. USR still wants to rebuild the right-wing coalition, but asks for clarifications from the Liberals, as the latter’s attitude shows a rapprochement to the Social Democrats. UDMR also calls for rebuilding the old coalition with PNL and USR.

Reactors — Romania will be the first country in the world where the US will implement the technology of small modular nuclear reactors. The Romanian president, Klaus Iohannis, and the United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, established, on Tuesday evening, at the climate summit in Scotland that, by 2028, Romania should include this type of reactors in the national energy production system. A White House statement writes that this collaboration will create up to 30,000 jobs in the two countries. President Iohannis underlined that this type of cooperation on several levels – development of technologies, production, services – must be extended to other areas as well. He also pointed out that this close collaboration in the field of climate change will add to the successful cooperation between Romania and the US in many other sectors and will contribute to the consolidation of the Strategic Bilateral Partnership.

Summit – Romania has one of the lowest greenhouse gas emission rates per capita in the European Union, President Klaus Iohannis said at a UN climate summit in Glasgow on Tuesday. He also said that Romania would take additional measures to reach the European target of reducing gas emissions by 55% by 2030. World leaders have promised at the summit in Scotland that, by the end of the decade, they will put an end to deforestation and reduce emissions of methane, a gas considered even more dangerous for the planet than the carbon dioxide. The measures are meant to limit global temperature rise to just 1.5 degrees as against the pre-industrial period, as agreed in the 2015 Paris Agreement. However, not all countries seem to be determined to take urgent action to reduce emissions. The absence of the Chinese President from the summit in Scotland is relevant in this regard, as China reports the highest emissions from burning coal. (LS)