COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – Another 2.880 new cases of COVID-19
\nand 53 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours, the Group for Strategic
\nCommunication announced on Sunday. 628
\npatients are still in intensive care. The infection rate per thousand
\ninhabitants in the last 14 days stands at 2.52 in Bucharest, with high rates
\nalso reported in Alba and Valcea counties. The rate is over 1.5 in another nine
\ncounties. If the rate exceeds 3, authorities want to reintroduce certain
\nrestrictions. On Saturday, hundreds of people protested in Bucharest against
\nrestrictions imposed by the authorities to prevent the coronavirus from
\nspreading. A similar protest was staged in Iasi, the second-most affected city
\nin the country, where people are disgruntled with the ban on the pilgrimage to
\nSaint Paraskeva. Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said the protests are unfounded,
\nand anyone who doesn’t observe the regulations in force will be fined. <\/p>\n
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COVID-19 IN THE WORLD – Health authorities in numerous
\nstates across the world have raised alarm signals regarding the mounting
\npressure on national healthcare systems, in the context of a resurge of the
\ncoroanvirus pandemic. There are nearly 37 million confirmed cases of COVID-19
\nglobally, while over a 1million people have died worldwide, 5,500 in the last
\n24 hours alone, the World Health Organization reports. The figures also very
\nclose to their corresponding marks in spring, when experts said the pandemic
\npeaked. The European Commission has signed an agreement with Gilead
\nbiopharmaceutical company to receive 500 thousand shots of Remdesivir, an
\nantiviral drug that has been successfully used so far to treat COVID
\ninfections. All EU member states and some of its neighbors are due to receive
\ndozes. China has announced its willingness to join the agreement to grant
\nvaccines to poor countries, an initiative launched by the WHO. <\/p>\n
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ELECTION – A partial local
\nelection is held on Sunday in a city and three villages in Romania, where
\nofficials could not be elected on September 27. In the three villages the first
\ntwo candidates were tied in terms of number of votes and will face each other
\nin the second round, while in Moldova Noua city the vote on September 27 was
\ninvalidated due to irregularities linked to the voting procedure. In last
\nmonth’s election Social-Democrat Gabriela Firea missed her chance to win a
\nsecond mandate at the helm of the Bucharest City Hall, losing to independent
\ncandidate Nicu\u015for Dan, backed by the National Liberal Party and the Save
\nRomania Union – PLUS Alliance. Candidates backed by the Liberals and the
\nAlliance won three of the six districts of Bucharest. Nationwide, the
\nSocial-Democratic Party won 20 county councils, the Liberals 17 and the
\nDemocratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania 4. <\/p>\n
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INVESTIGATION – The head of the National Agency for
\nPreventing and Combating Money Laundering, Lauren\u0163iu
\nBaranga, has been detained for 24 hours and is accused of having used forged
\ndiplomas, which tribunals have disqualified. According to investigators,
\nBaranga’s use of fake education certificates allegedly caused a prejudice worth
\nover a hundred thousand Euro. Baranga resigned after having taken office just
\nlast month, after allegations arose regarding his forged Baccalaureate diploma,
\nwhich he obtained aged 32. Liberal Prime Minister Ludovic Orban denied having
\nany prior knowledge in this respect, saying all vetting procedures were applied
\nwhen Baranga’s candidacy was analyzed. Interim Senate Speaker, Social-Democrat
\nRobert Cazanciuc, said Orban has to step down for appointing a forgerer in a
\npublic office with a direct control of Romania’s financial dealings. <\/p>\n
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MARATHON – The International
\nBucharest Marathon, due to take place on Sunday, was cancelled upon the
\nauthorities’ request, due to the negative evolution of the coronavirus
\npandemic. The infection rate in Bucharest now stands at 2.52 per thousand
\ninhabitants. 250 professional runners had enrolled in the Bucharest marathon,
\nin an attempt to qualify to the Olympic Games due to take place in Tokyo next
\nyear. We hope the specific qualities describing a professional marathon
\nrunners, such as determination, endurance and planning, will help them overcome
\nthis difficult moment, all the more so as some of them had already traveled to Bucharest,
\ncoming from other continents, the president of the Bucharest Running Club,
\nValeria van Groningen, has said. The decision to cancel the Bucharest
\nInternational Marathon will not be affecting runners enrolled in virtual races,
\nwho will be taking part individually in the said events, over October 11-18.
\nVirtual racers get to pick their own track and start time. <\/p>\n
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HANDBALL – Romanian handball club CSM
\nBucharest lost 25-30 away from home on Saturday to Vipers Kristiansand of
\nNorway, in a match counting towards Champions League Group A. CSM could not
\nfield its top player, Cristina Neagu, the world’s handballer in 2010, 2015,
\n2016 and 2018, who tested positive for COVID-19. Previously, with Neagu in the
\nlineup, CSM had won both group fixtures. Scheduled for Sunday in Group B, the
\nmatch pitting SCM Ramnicu Valcea against Podravka Koprivnica of Croatia was
\npostponed, also due to COVID infections reported at the Romanian club. SCM has
\nlost the first three group matches. In the men’s Champions League, Romanian
\nchampions Dinamo Bucharest will play straight into the Europa League group
\nphase, due to kick off this month. <\/p>\n
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FOOTBALL – Romania’s national football
\nteam is today playing Norway in Nations League Group B. Romania is top of the
\ngroup tables after drawing 1-all at home against Northern Ireland and defeating
\nAustria 3-2. On Thursday, Romania missed the chance to qualify to the 2020
\nEuropean Championship after losing 1-2 to Iceland in the playoff semis. <\/p>\n
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(translated by V.
\nPalcu)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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