PANDEMIC – The total number of Covid-19 infections
\nworldwide has exceeded 85.5 million with a death toll of more than 1.85
\nmillion. The USA is the country with the highest number of infections followed
\nby India, Brazil, Russia and France. The UK, which has lately seen a surge in
\nthe number of infections, is the first country to use as of today, besides
\nPfizer\/BioNTech, a vaccine made by the Oxford University for the Astrazeneca
\npharmaceutical group. The new vaccine, cheaper and easier to store, is expected
\nto change the immunization process in the UK. According to Radio Romania
\ncorrespondent in London, the campaign to administrate the Oxford-Astrazeneca
\nvaccine starts at a critical moment – the number of infections has exceeded 50
\nthousand per day in the past week, a situation created by the new strain of the
\nvirus, which was discovered in southern Britain. The Astrazeneca vaccine has
\nalso been approved in India, the world’s second most populous country. As of
\ntoday, Norway imposes additional restrictions to prevent an increase in the
\nnumber of infections. According to the country’s Prime Minister, there is
\nevidence of a new wave of infections, due to Christmas celebrations and the new
\nstrain discovered in Britain. Spain is also expected to toughen security measures
\nin several regions, in order to prevent a third wave of the pandemic. <\/p>\n
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TALKS – The government in Bucharest is expected
\nto hold talks this week on the 2021 state budget. According to Liberal Prime
\nMinister Florin Citu, the budget is going to be built around a 7% GDP deficit
\nand be submitted for Parliament approval by the end of the month. According to
\nthe Prime Minister, the 7% value is proof of the firm commitment to fiscal
\nconsolidation without hindering the economy. The present budget would allow for
\nthe extension by June 30th of the active measures decided against the
\nbackground of the present pandemic, namely compensations granted to employees
\nduring the suspension of the individual employment agreements and financial
\nsupport for employers. Talks are also expected to focus on a support programme
\nfor the HoReCa industry and travel agencies. The government might also tackle
\nthis week a law on slightly raising the national minimum wage, while wages in
\nthe state-owned enterprises are to be frozen at the level of December 2020. <\/p>\n
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DECISION
\n– The National Committee
\nfor Emergency Situations in Romania has updated their list of countries and
\nareas with the highest infection rate and made a decision on the resumption of
\nthe flights towards the UK. People coming to Romania from this country are
\nsupposed to isolate themselves for 10 days and must have taken a Covid-19 test
\nat least 48 hours before their arrival. Flights to the UK were suspended on
\nDecember 20th after a fresh, more contagious virus strain had been discovered
\nin Britain. Italy has been included on the list of countries with a higher risk
\nof transmission. <\/p>\n
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MEDIA The Liberal MP Alexandru Muraru has requested the setting up of a
\nParliament committee to investigate the activity of the Romanian Television and
\nRomanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation. Muraru, vice-president of the
\nEducation Committee with the Chamber of Deputies believes that rejecting the
\nactivity reports of the two institutions’ boards of directors is not enough to
\nassess the level of what he described as censorship, propaganda in favour of
\nthe opposition Social Democrats, and public money embezzlement committed by the
\ntwo institutions. Iulian Bulai, president of the Committee for Culture, Art and
\nMass-media with the Chamber of Deputies, has announced that he will meet on
\nTuesday the head of the National Audio-Visual Council Monica Gubernat for talks
\nover the faulty communication, which distorts the authorities’ messages
\nreferring to the Covid-19 pandemic. The reaction comes after the National
\nTelevision on New Year’s Eve aired a programme mocking the measures taken to
\ncontain the pandemic. <\/p>\n
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COVID-19 – In the past 24 hours Romania has reported over 31
\nhundred fresh cases of Covid-19 infections, as revealed by the 10 thousand
\ntests carried out nation wide, the Strategic Communication Group announced on
\nMonday. Roughly 644 thousand people have been infected with the novel virus
\nsince the first case was reported in Romania in February last year. Out of
\nthese, 577 thousand have been declared cured. 78 people have died to the virus
\nin the past 24 hours bringing the death toll since the onset of the pandemic to
\n16,057. 11 hundred are in intensive care and the authorities are bracing up for
\na new wave of infections after the winter holidays. According to Raed Arafat,
\nhead of the Department for Emergency Situations, although the immunization
\ncampaign in Romania has commenced, prevention measures, like face covering,
\nhand washing and social distancing remain mandatory. The vaccination campaign
\nhas been extended in Romania, which is to activate over 90% of the 376 centers
\nfor medical personnel and those serving in medical-social centers. Nearly
\n13,500 medical workers had been immunized in the first stage, and authorities
\nplan to step up the campaign and have over 20 thousand people immunized on a daily
\nbasis. <\/p>\n
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(bill)<\/p>\n
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