\n
<\/p>\n
COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – The infection rate
\nhas exceeded 2 per thousand inhabitants in the capital city Bucharest and another
\ntwo counties. The rate stands at 1.5 in another 12 counties, where the
\nauthorities have introduced new restrictions. Yesterday, Prime Minister Ludovic
\nOrban announced he would recommend the cancelling of private events, or capping
\nthe maximum number of attendants to 20. Many events organizers do not comply
\nwith health safety measures, the Prime Minister said. Another 2,069 new
\ninfections were reported in Romania on Sunday, most of these signaled in
\nBucharest and in Ia\u015fi and Prahova counties. 56 new fatalities were also
\nrecorded, while 628 patients are in intensive care. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
COVID-19 IN THE WORLD – Governments across
\nthe globe are talking about a second wave of the pandemic and introducing
\nharsher restrictions to stop the virus from spreading. Over 38 million
\ninfections have been reported since the start of the pandemic 10 months ago. 29
\nmillion of the people infected with the coronavirus have recovered. After being
\none of the most affected countries in the world in March this year, when it
\nreported some 36,000 fatalities, Italy today has released an update of
\nanti-COVID measures for the next month. Bars, restaurants and clubs in the
\nCzech Republic will remain closed starting tomorrow until November 3, while
\nmost schools in this country will move to remote teaching. In Jerusalem, the
\nMinisterial Committee for coronavirus is today convening to analyze the latest
\ndevelopments. Israel has entered the fourth consecutive week with restrictions
\nin place at national level. Meanwhile, American researchers have reported the
\nfirst confirmed case of coronavirus reinfection, which takes the global number
\nto five. The other cases of reinfection were reported in Belgium, the
\nNetherlands, Hong Kong and Ecuador. The international community needs to do
\nmore to deal with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IMF
\nGeneral Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
EUROPEAN COUNCIL – President Klaus
\nIohannis will be attending the European Council meeting held in Brussels on
\nOctober 15 and 16. According to the Presidency, high on the agenda are hot
\ntopics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, EU-UK relations as well as combating
\nclimate change. Concerning the ongoing health crisis, talks will focus on the
\ncurrent status of the pandemic, measures to limit the spread of the virus, the
\neconomic and social impact of the pandemic, economic recovery and the
\ndevelopment of COVID-19 vaccines. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
ELECTION – Over 20,000
\nRomanians living abroad have registered for postal voting for the December 6
\nlegislative election. Eligible voters residing abroad who wish to cast their
\nvotes in the election must register until October 22 on www.votstrainatate.ro.
\nState Secretary with the Department for Romanians Worldwide, Ovidiu Burdu\u015fa,
\nsaid there might be fewer voting polls this year set up abroad, due to the
\nCOVID-19 pandemic. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
STATISTICS – The National
\nLiberal Party in power grabbed the highest number of votes at national level in
\nthe recent local election, both in terms of the number of city halls, 34.58%,
\nand in terms of the local and county councils. According to data published by
\nthe Central Election Bureau, ranking second is the Social-Democratic Party in
\nopposition, with a score of 30.34% of the total number of city halls. The
\nSocial Democrats outrank the Liberals in terms of mayor and county councilmen
\nseats. Ranking third at national level is the Save-Romania Union, with a little
\nunder 7%. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
DRAFT LAW – Romanian deputies
\nare today debating a draft law tabled by the Social Democratic Party on the
\npayment of hazard bonus to teaching staff and auxiliary personnel, who are
\nexposed to COVID infections. The hazard pay will stand at \u20ac400 and \u20ac300 per
\nmonth, respectively. The beneficiaries will get the additional financial
\npayment throughout any state of emergency or alert. The Chamber of Deputies is
\nthe decisional body in this case. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
QUALITY OF AIR – Environment
\nMinister Costel Alexe on Tuesday is holding a press conference jointly with
\nMinister for European Funds, Marcel Bolo\u015f. The two will be signing a funding
\ncontract for the modernization and expansion of the National Network for
\nMonitoring Quality of Air. The project seeks to build a national air pollution
\nforecast system for large urban centers. Earlier this year, Costel Alexe
\nannounced another 60 new monitoring stations will be added to the network, an
\ninvestment worth \u20ac 3.17 million, of which \u20ac2.17 million is covered by the
\nEnvironment Fund Administration, while the rest will be funded by the EU. Right
\nnow the network totals 148 operational stations, 8 of which in the capital city
\nBucharest. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(Translated
\nby V. Palcu)<\/p>\n
\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":[35374,29605,29654,35793,35791,28945,35773,35792,30168,35794],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-104643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-covid-19","tag-draft-law","tag-european-council-meeting","tag-hazard-pay","tag-health-safety-measures","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-legislative-election","tag-local-election-figures","tag-ludovic-orban","tag-quality-of-air"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n