COVID-19 IN ROMANIA<\/b> -
\nPresident Klaus Iohannis is today holding a meeting to assess and present
\nmeasures aimed at managing the COVID-19 pandemic, to be attended by Prime
\nMinister Ludovic Orban, Health Minister Nelu T\u0103taru and the head of the
\nDepartment for Emergency Situations, Raed Arafat. Finance Minister Florin C\u00ee\u0163u
\non Wednesday signed the \u20ac12-million down payment to the European Commission for
\nthe purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine. Romania wants to make sure it will be
\namong the first countries to have access to the vaccine in the coming period.
\nIn other news, the Romanian Red Cross has started an anti-COVID-19 campaign by
\nraising public awareness regarding the virus. Over 23,000 pupils in 40 counties
\nand 4 districts of the capital city will be attending health education classes
\nover the next four months, both in schools and online. Aimed at also providing
\nthem with emotional support, the classes will be delivered by Red Cross
\nvolunteers. At the same time, some 190 thousand adults from rural or at-risk communities
\nwill receive information regarding the risks presented by the SARS-CoV-2 virus,
\nand will be counseled concerning the psychological weight of the pandemic. On
\nWednesday, another 9,700 new COVID-19 infections and 168 related deaths were
\nreported in the last 24 hours. Over 1,200 people are in intensive care. <\/p>\n
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COVID-19 IN THE WORLD<\/b> – The global number of SARS-CoV-2 infections has
\nexceeded 60 million today. 1.4 million people have died to the virus while 41.5
\nmillion have recovered, reads the latest worldometers.info update. The World
\nHealth Organization has recommended people refrain from attending family
\nreunions this year and celebrate Christmas online this year. In Europe several
\nstates have made public plans to ease lockdown restrictions for the winter
\nholidays. The British Government has sanctioned Christmas bubbles of a maximum
\nof three households meeting indoors. Germany too will allow gatherings of a
\nmaximum of ten people for Christmas and New Year’s celebrations. In turn,
\nFrance has announced a three-stage relaxation plan. Starting Saturday, shops
\nwill reopen under strict hygiene conditions and with working hours ending at 9
\nPM. Religious services will resume, albeit with a maximum attendance limit.
\nPhysical exercise and outdoor walks will now be permitted within a 20-km radius
\nfrom home for a maximum period of three hours. In Spain, the Government wants
\nto limit Christmas and New Year’s social and family gatherings to a maximum
\nnumber of 6 people. The authorities here are also considering introducing a
\nnighttime curfew between 1-6 AM on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. <\/p>\n
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MEETING <\/b>– Prime Minister Ludovic Orban and Economy Minister Virgil
\nPopescu today met with representatives of the hospitality sector, one of the
\nmost affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Talks focused on offsetting losses incurred
\nby this sector due to the pandemic. Pirme Minister Orban argued in favor of
\nextending the furlough status of all employees whose activity has been affected
\nby the health crisis and introducing flexible working hours so as to better meet
\nthe needs of the hospitality industry. Consultations between the Government and
\nhospitality representatives will continue over the coming period. The Government
\nhas so far given tax breaks and continued to pay unemployment benefits to
\nemployees put in furlough. The Government has also adopted a state-aid scheme
\nwhereby hospitality businesses are to receive 20% of the turnover they reported
\nthe previous year. We recall all restaurants are currently shut down in Romania
\ndue to the high infection rate, and those restaurants with exterior seating
\nhave low numbers of clients due to the cold weather. Business owners in the
\nsector say their losses amount even to 80%, and expect some 100 thousand jobs
\nto be lost by the end the year. <\/p>\n
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SMEs <\/b>– 58% of Romanian SMEs have enough funds to last them 1-2 months,
\nwhile 22% estimate the money will run out in 2-4 months, a recent survey
\nconducted by the Sierra Quadrant & Frames consultancy company reveals. Made
\npublic on Wednesday, the document shows
\nthat the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with restrictive measures
\nintroduced by the authorities, have severely impacted the Romanian economy, the
\nSME sector in particular, where financial problems have been most serious.
\nAccording to the survey, 61% of respondents say sales are the main problem
\nbehind their current troubles, 14% indicated financial deadlock to be the main
\ncause, 12% say the decrease in supplier credits is responsible for their
\ncurrent financial distress, while the limited access to bank financing is also
\nrated as a cause with an 8% response share. The survey was conducted over
\nNovember 10-15 using a sample population of 300 businesses operating in various
\nsector of the economy, from trade, financing, agriculture, energy, IT and
\nothers. A total of 1,232 took part in the survey, representing entrepreneurs,
\npeople in middle and top management positions, all higher education graduates. <\/p>\n
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FRANCOPHONIE <\/b>– Romania’s Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu highlighted the
\nactions our country has undertaken this year to support the Francophonie.
\nAccording to the Foreign Ministry, Bogdan Aurescu on Tuesday attended the 37th
\nsession of the Francophonie Ministerial Conference held in videoconference
\nformat. In his speech, Minister Aurescu referred to Romania’s contribution to
\npeace-keeping and post-conflict reconstruction UN- and EU-led missions in
\nFrench-speaking countries. In this respect, Romania provided French-language
\ntraining to high-ranking military officials taking part in the missions,
\nfunding and co-organizing scholarships for doctor and post-doctoral studies.
\nThe Conference is taking place over November 24-25 in the context of marking 50
\nyears of Francophonie in 2020. On this occasion the Conference also adopted the
\n2020-2025 Economic Strategy, which addresses, among other things, the economic
\nfallout of the coronacrisis, economic recovery and sustainable development in
\nFrench-speaking states. Romania has been a full-member of the International
\nOrganization of La Francophonie (OIF) since 1993. (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":[28963,35878,28998,35879,28945,30168,31100,32402],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-104745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-bogdan-aurescu","tag-covid-19-in-romania","tag-francophonie","tag-hospitality-sector","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-ludovic-orban","tag-smes","tag-vaccine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n