COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – Another
\n8,134 SARS-CoV-2 infections and 161 related deaths were reported in the last 24
\nhours in Romania, the Group for Strategic Communication announced on Saturday.
\n465, 982 people have been infected with COVID-19 since the start of the
\npandemic, while 11,045 people have died to the virus. Most infections were
\nreported in Bucharest, Constan\u021ba, Cluj, Ilfov and Ia\u0219i. Over 70% of infected
\npeople have recovered. 1,249 people are currently in intensive care. 6,914 Romanians
\nliving abroad have tested positive for COVID-19, 127 of them have died. <\/p>\n
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COVID-19 IN THE WORLD – More
\nand more countries around the world are preparing their national strategies for
\nanti-COVID-19 vaccination. The United States and the European Union hope to
\nstart the vaccination campaign in December. The first vaccines to be
\nadministered will be those produced by Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna. So far
\nPfizer and BioNTech announced a 95% efficiency rate for their vaccine, Moderna
\nsays its vaccine has a 94.5% efficiency while the Russian Sputnik V vaccine is
\nrated with a 91.4% efficiency. The AstraZeneca British vaccine is the cheapest
\nand doesn’t require cold storage, although additional tests are still needed.
\nChina also claims its Sinopharm vaccine works, with zero infection cases
\nreported for 1 million people who’ve taken the vaccine, which is still in an
\nexperimental phase. <\/p>\n
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UNION – Restricted ceremonies on
\nSaturday marked 102 years since the completion of the historic process of
\nBukovina’s union with Romania. The event prefaced the Union with Romania on
\nDecember 1, 1918, of not just Transylvania, but also Banat, Maramure\u015f and
\nCri\u015fana,
\nwhich had also been part of the Habsburg Empire. Previously, in March 1918,
\nBessarabia, another Romanian province, had united with the mother-country. Preparations
\nare underway in Romania to organize the military parades celebrating December
\n1, the National Day of Romania. In Bucharest, the traditional parade will be
\nheld without public attendance in a restricted format, due to the coronavirus
\npandemic. The National Day will be celebrated abroad by means of online events
\norganized by Romania’s embassies or by branches of the Romanian Cultural
\nInstitute. <\/p>\n
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MOLDOVA – Authorities have
\ndeclared a state of emergency in the Republic of Moldova, in place until
\nJanuary 15, 2021. All nightclubs have been closed, while restaurants, bars and coffee
\nshops will close before 10 PM. Colloquiums and sports competitions with
\nphysical attendance have been banned. Theatres, cinemas and concert halls have
\nalso shut down. Public and private institutions will have to introduce special
\nworking hours, with the physical presence of only those workers who cannot work
\nfrom home. According to our correspondent on the ground, restrictions were previously
\nintroduced in the Republic of Moldova, although they were not fully observed,
\nnot even by the authorities. Socialist Prime Minister Ion Chicu organized his
\nson’s wedding party, while in the campaign for the presidential election, the
\nacting President, Igor Dodon, held a rally with hundreds of participants.<\/p>\n
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CAMPAIGN – The campaign for the
\nlegislative election due on December 6 continues in Romania. As in the case of
\nthe local election, held on September 27, the authorities have limited the
\nnumber of participants to election rallies and introduced strict health safety
\nregulations. Citizens will be able to cast their votes in all polling stations
\non election day, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has said, adding that citizens
\ninfected with COVID-19, currently in quarantine or isolation, will be able to
\nvote with the help of the mobile ballot box. More and more towns and villages
\nacross Romania are entering quarantine against the growing infection rate.
\nRomanians living abroad will be able to vote on December 5 and the 6. Representing
\nthe Romanian Diaspora will be four deputies and two senators. <\/p>\n
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VACCINATION – The Government decree
\non the vaccination strategy was adopted in Friday’s Government session. The
\nfirst to be immunized will be employees working in healthcare, social
\nassistance, people in at-risk categories and key personnel, Ionel Danc\u0103, the
\nhead of the Prime Minister’s Office, told a press briefing. The Government also
\ndecided to increase the bonus of medical and auxiliary personnel directly
\ndealing with COVID-19 patients up to 85% of their base salary. The Government
\nalso debated a draft law providing financial assistance to companies in the
\nhospitality industry. One measure provides for a grant covering losses incurred
\nin 2020 up to 20% of last year’s turnover. <\/p>\n
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HANDBALL – Romania’s women’s
\nhandball team are preparing for the European Championship hosted by Denmark
\nbetween December 3 and 20. Romania is playing in Group D in the final
\ntournament, alongside Norway, Germany and Poland, with the games taking place
\nin the town of Kolding. Denmark is the sole host of the tournament after the
\nsecond designated host, neighboring Norway, pulled out. On November 16, only 17
\ndays before the first game was due, Oslo announced that healthcare constraints
\nrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic prevent it from organizing the competition.
\n(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":[35374,35891,35773,31286,35892,32402],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-104752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-covid-19","tag-immunization-strategy","tag-legislative-election","tag-romanias-handball-team","tag-state-of-emergency-in-the-republic-of-moldova","tag-vaccine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n