COVID-19 IN ROMANIA
\n– Another 8,499 new COVID-19 infections and 172 related deaths were reported on
\nFriday in Romania. 457,848 people have been infected since the start of the
\noutbreak and 10,884 people have died to the virus. 1,226 patients are in
\nintensive care. 6,876 Romanians living abroad have tested positive for
\nCOVID-19, 127 of them have died. Several villages around the capital city are
\nnow in quarantine after the infection rate there has spiked. Doctors say the
\nmeasures taken by the authorities are not enough to keep the pandemic in check.
\nThey ask for harsher restrictions, warning that the number of beds in intensive
\ncare units across the country is getting lower by the day. In another
\ndevelopment, the National Authority for Consumer Protection has submitted seven
\nnotifications regarding uncertified masks in Romania, which have already been
\nfiltered through the EU’s rapid alert system. The Authority has recently put a
\ntrade ban on nearly 33 million such masks in Romania. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
COVID-19 IN THE WORLD
\n– Over 61.3 million people around the world have got infected with SARS-CoV-2
\nsince the start of the outbreak, according to the latest worldometers.info
\nupdate. Over 1.4 million people have died to the virus. In Europe, Germany
\nannounced plans to vaccinate 900 thousand people over the course of three
\nmonths against COVID-19, after progress has been reported to organize the
\nvaccination campaign. According to our correspondent on the ground,
\nrestaurants, cultural and entertainment venues remain closed, including for the
\nwinter holidays. Schools and nursery schools remain, however, open in Germany.
\nIn France, Health Minister Oliver Veran confirmed the immunization might begin
\nat the end of December, underlining the need to make the process as transparent
\nas possible, against the backdrop of high levels of coronascepticism in this
\ncountry. Meanwhile the infection rate is going down in Spain. The authorities
\nhave called on the population to continue observing travel restrictions until
\nthe Government and regional authorities announce the set of special measures
\nfor Christmas and New Year’s celebrations. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
RECOVERY – The
\nGovernment in Bucharest has submitted for public consultation the national
\nRecovery and Resilience Plan, a post-COVID economic recovery plan, under which
\nRomania will receive \u20ac30 billion worth of European funds. The plan is designed
\nto uphold an accelerated growth rate over the next four years. The European
\nfunds will be used to build new hospitals and hundreds of kilometers of
\nmotorway, to develop school infrastructure and digitize local administrations.
\nOf the \u20ac30 billion, \u20ac14 billion represent non-refundable grants, while the rest
\naccounts for low-interest loans the Commission has taken out on behalf of all
\nMember States. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
GOVERNMENT – The
\nGovernment is today convening in a new session, the second this week, aimed at passing an emergency decree introducing assistance measures for the hospitality
\nsector, one of the hardest hit by the coronacrisis. The financial aid package
\nincludes grants tantamount to 20% of the losses incurred this year, which caps
\nout at \u20ac800 thousand for a single business. Travel agencies also qualify for
\nthis programme. High on today’s Cabinet meeting is also the anti-COVID national
\nvaccination strategy, recently made public by Bucharest authorities. President
\nKlaus Iohannis said the Government should adopt the strategy before the
\ncountry’s Supreme Defense Council meeting scheduled for next week. The
\nGovernment will also discuss a law on granting emergency assistance to the
\nfamilies of the victims of the November 14 fire at the Piatra Neam\u0163 Emergency
\nCounty Hospital.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
BSEC – Romania’s
\nForeign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is today presiding the 42nd meeting
\nof the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Black Sea
\nEconomic Cooperation (BSEC). Held in videoconference format, the event marks
\nthe end of Romania’s presidency of the Organization in 2020. Albania will hold
\nthe presidency of BSEC in the first half of 2021. According to a Foreign
\nMinistry release, the Council meeting occasioned a review of all projects and
\ninitiatives launched under the Romanian presidency, which sought to boost
\neconomic cooperation in the Black Sea region and increase regional dialogue
\namong BSEC Member States with a view to better deal with the social and
\neconomic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
FOOTBALL -
\nRomania’s champions CFR Cluj on Thursday lost nil-2 to AS Rome of Italy in
\nEuropa League Group A. In the other group fixture, Young Boys Berne of
\nSwitzerland defeated Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia. Rome tops the group tables with 10
\npoints, followed by Young Boys with 7 points, CFR Cluj with 4 points and CSKA
\nwith 1 point. In the next round scheduled for December 3, AS Rome will take on
\nYoung Boys while CFR will play CSKA. Eliminated from the Champions League
\npreliminaries, CFR Cluj is Romania’s last representative in this year’s
\ninter-club competitions. (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":[35888,28963,29628,30355,35374,30366,29548,35884,35887],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-104749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-assistance-to-hospitality","tag-bogdan-aurescu","tag-bsec-meeting","tag-cfr-cluj","tag-covid-19","tag-europa-league","tag-government-session","tag-recovery-and-resilience-plan","tag-winter-holidays-restrictions"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n