TOLL The number of Romanians killed by the new coronavirus has today reached
\n229 – the Strategic Communication Group has announced. The number of those
\ninfected stands at nearly 5 thousand. Two Romanians who came from Italy in
\nMarch, have again tested positive for the virus ten days after being released
\nfrom hospitals. 651 Romanians have been infected abroad, 400 of them in Italy.
\n37 Romanian nationals have died abroad since the outbreak. <\/p>\n
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CONTRACTION The government in Bucharest
\nis expecting an economic contraction between 1 and 3% after the crisis
\ntriggered by the pandemic, but a real percentage will be calculated only after
\nApril 15th, the country’s Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has told a
\nprivate TV channel. The Romanian official has explained that 30% of the economy
\nhas already been affected while budget revenues significantly diminished adding
\nthat another factor to influence the situation is the way in which the other EU
\neconomies are going to react, as many businesses in Romania are depending on
\nthose in the EU. <\/p>\n
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COVID The number of coronavirus infections has reached 1.5 million worldwide
\nand 88 thousand people have already been killed by the virus. 330 thousand have
\nbeen cured by the disease though. In the USA, the country, where the pandemic
\nhad a rapid evolution, 430 thousand people have been infected and 15 thousand
\ndied so far. Europe remains the most affected continent with 770 thousand
\ninfections and 61 thousand dead, most of them in Spain, Italy, France and
\nGermany. The European Commission yesterday proposed a ban on unessential trips
\nto the EU until May 15th extending the present restrictions.
\nAccording to the Commission, the measures taken to fight the disease must be applied
\nfor more than 30 days to be effective. At the same time the European Commission
\npresident Ursula von de Leyen has called on the EU members to eliminate
\ninterdiction over the export of medicines to avoid shortages in the bloc. The
\nEuropean center for disease prevention and control has cautioned there are
\nstill no signs that Europe has reached the peak of the pandemic. <\/p>\n
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REFUNDS Airline companies must reimburse customers for the flights
\ncancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Union transport commissioner
\nAdina Valean told Reuters news agency on Wednesday. The commissioner has rejected
\ncalls from carriers to relax EU rules in the field, adding that wider support
\nfrom the European institutions is needed in order to implement such a
\nrelaxation. Airlines also seek government support, saying that refunding
\nhundreds of thousands of tickets will drain them of money. Romanian Transport
\nMinister Lucian Bode yesterday announced that Bucharest is having talks with
\nthe European Commission for a financial support of 130 billion Euros for
\nRomanian air transport companies Tarom and Blue Air
\ncurrently affected by the pandemic. <\/p>\n
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(translated by bill)
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