EMERGENCY DECREE – At
\nmidnight, local time, a new Government emergency decree takes effect,
\nincreasing fines for anyone who doesn’t observe the special measures taken to
\nlimit the spread of the coronavirus. According to the latest toll, 94 people
\nhave died to the virus nationwide. Moreover, according the Group for Strategic
\nCommunication, a total number of 196 Romanian citizens abroad have tested
\npositive for the virus: 105 in Spain, 57 in Italy, 14 in France, 7 in Germany,
\n4 in the UK, 2 in Namibia, 2 in Indonesia, and 1 each in Tunisia, Ireland,
\nLuxemburg, Belgium and the US. As many as 24 Romanian citizens died from the coronavirus
\nabroad: 9 in Italy, 6 in France, 4 in the UK, 4 in Spain and 1 in Germany. On
\nWednesday, President Klaus Iohannis chaired a meeting which assessed and
\npresented public safety and order measures aimed at preventing the spread of
\nthe coronavirus. The President warned that anyone who doesn’t abide by the
\nlegislation, emergency decrees and regulations will be fined. Since the onset
\nof the state of emergency the authorities have carried out 870,000 checks and
\nhanded out over 78,000 fines.<\/p>\n
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ECONOMY – The automobile industry wants to help the national
\neconomy and contribute to the production of medical equipment, such as masks,
\nprotection gear and biocides, Economy Minister Virgil Popescu has said. The
\nRomanian official went on to say that representatives of the automobile
\nindustry will take part in a national project aimed at building ventilators
\nneeded to trick the COVID-19 sick. On the other hand, Minister Popescu said
\nrepresentatives of the Dacia carmaker are working on a scenario to resume
\nproduction towards the second half of April. Due to the pandemic Dacia has
\nsuspended its activity at the power plant in Mioveni until April 5, with over
\n13,500 workers becoming technically unemployed. <\/p>\n
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EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS – Over
\n950,000 employment contracts at national level have been suspended starting
\nApril 1, the Labor Ministry has announced. Some 207,000 employees in the
\nmanufacturing industry, 156,000 people working in retail and car services and
\nover 110,000 workers in the hospitability sector are now technically
\nunemployed. Over 155,000 individual employment agreements have been terminated,
\nmost of which in trade and services, the manufacturing industry and
\nconstructions. The authorities recall that as of Wednesday people can apply for
\ntechnical unemployment benefits. <\/p>\n
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WARNINGS – The number of confirmed
\ninfections with the COVID-19 virus might reach 1 million, with the death toll
\npossibly exceeding the 50,000 mark, the World Health Organization president
\nTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said. The WHO official expressed concern with
\nthe swift growth of the number of coronavirus infections. Over the past
\nfive weeks, we have witnessed a near exponential growth in the number of new
\ncases, reaching almost every country.The
\nnumber of deaths has more than doubled in the past week, the WHO president
\nwent on to say. In another development, experts with the World Health
\nOrganization and the World Trade Organization (WTC) have warned against food
\nshortage risks on global markets due to disruptions in the supply and
\nproduction chain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. International bodies express
\nconcern over the slowdown in the circulation of workers in the agricultural and
\nfood industries, which is blocking agricultural works in numerous Western
\ncountries and causing border crossing delays in the transport of merchandise,
\nwhich in turn leads to a waste of perishable foodstuffs. Experts have also
\nhighlighted the need to protect workers from the agri-food sector and those in
\nthe distribution chain, so as to minimize the spread of the virus and maintain
\nsupply chains open. <\/p>\n
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NATO – Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is today attending a
\nvideo-conference of NATO foreign ministers. The meeting will look into ways of
\ndealing with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on NATO’s actions.
\nThe agenda for talks will also focus on threats coming the southern vicinity,
\nthe process of strategic reflection on consolidating NATO politics as well as
\nsecurity developments in the Euro-Atlantic area. The meeting bears special
\nsignificance for Northern Macedonia, being the first time this country takes
\npart as an Ally state, the number of NATO members thus reaching 30. NATO should
\nmake sure that the COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t endanger the security of its
\nallies, as threats haven’t miraculously disappeared, NATO Secretary General
\nJens Stoltenberg has warned. <\/p>\n
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(Translated by V. Palcu)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":75903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[35444,30670,35446,28921,35445],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-104245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-coronavirus-in-romania","tag-economic-measures","tag-employment-contracts","tag-nato-meeting","tag-who-warnings"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n