September 13, 2021 UPDATE

A news update

Newsroom, 13.09.2021, 20:05

School year — Almost 3 million school and preschool pupils started a new school year in Romania on Monday. The school year has 34 weeks, being divided into two semesters and it will end on June 11, 2022. On the first school day, festivities were allowed with the participation of parents, the wearing of protective masks and keeping the physical distance from other participants being mandatory. However, there are also children who cannot attend school physically, because, in several localities, the COVID-19 infection rate exceeded 6 cases per thousand inhabitants, and also because the schools where they study were not repaired. The Education Minister, Sorin Cîmpeanu, expressed hope that important progress would be made in relation to pupils’ vaccination after the beginning of school, given that the authorities showed availability to organize mobile teams to bring vaccination closer to schools.

Partnership — The Romanian FM Bogdan Aurescu on Monday hailed the 10th anniversary of the conclusion of the Romania-US Strategic Partnership, as well as of the Agreement on the installation of an anti-missile system in Romania. In his turn, the charge daffaires of the US Embassy in Bucharest, David Muniz, pointed out that Romania fought side by side with America and the other allied forces in some of the toughest theaters of operations in the world. “Through their actions, the Romanian military brought peace to the affected areas and protected the vulnerable from forces that would have treated them like prey,” said David Muniz. He added that Romania remained an essential link in the NATO anti-missile defense chain.

Covid-19 — Almost 1,850 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Romania on Monday, out of more than 22,000 tests. In addition, another 46 deaths were reported in patients infected with the novel coronavirus. At least 5,280 people infected with COVID-19 are hospitalized. There are now over 630 patients in intensive care. Romania has 860 intensive care beds for Covid patients, and the authorities are looking to increase their number. 5.2 million Romanians have been fully vaccinated, which means one third of the eligible population.

Investigation – A Romanian Parliament committee will start this week investigating the increase in energy prices. The commission was set up with the support of all parliamentary groups, in the context of an increase of more than 20%, over the summer, in energy prices and amid fears that financial pressure on households will increase substantially in the cold season. A National Institute of Statistics analysis shows that more than one million families could not afford to pay their electricity and gas bills even when the energy prices were regulated. The authorities have recently approved the Vulnerable Consumer Law, but experts believe this is not enough.

Firefighters’ Day – On Monday, President Klaus Iohannis decorated the Battle Flag of the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations in Bucharest and the commanders of the units that acted, this summer, to put out the fires in Greece, as part a ceremony on the occasion of Firefighters Day, marked, every year, on September 13th. At the same time, President Iohannis handed over battle flags to 11 County Emergency Inspectorates in sign of appreciation for the devotion and spirit of sacrifice of the Romanian rescuers in fulfilling the missions of protecting the citizens and the community. In turn, the PM Florin Cîţu congratulated the firefighters and spoke about their dedication and professionalism.

Pope – Pope Francis is on an official visit to Slovakia until Wednesday. After a meeting with members of the Jewish community, including Holocaust survivors, he will travel, on Tuesday, to the poorest regions of Slovakia, where he will have talks with representatives of the Roma community, and on Wednesday he will hold a religious service in Bratislava in the open air. Earlier, Pope Francis paid a brief visit to Budapest, where he pleaded for openness towards our fellows during his discussion with the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is known for his anti-immigration policies.

Film – The film “Immaculate”, directed by Monica Stan and George Chiper-Lillemark, won the “Leone del Futuro” film debut award at the 78th edition of the Venice International Film Festival. The production, presented for the first time in the world, features Ana Dumitraşcu, Vasile Pavel and Cezar Grumăzescu in the main roles. Monica Stan received an award also for the screenplay of the film “Immaculate” in the section dedicated to authors under the age of 40. The two filmmakers also won the best director award in a parallel section, entitled “Authors Days”, created after the “Directors Week” section of the Cannes Film Festival. The Venice Film Festival ended on September 11th. (LS)