Coronavirus
<\/p>\n
Schools.<\/strong> Most children and teachers want to go
<\/p>\n
Immunity. <\/strong>The World Health Organisation has
Protest.<\/strong> Healthcare trade union federation
<\/p>\n
Corruption. <\/strong>The National
<\/p>\n
Trip.<\/strong> Maia
<\/p>\n
Car sales.<\/strong> Sales of new cars dropped
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some of the main stories in Romania today.<\/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":[35339,28950,29130,29437,19347],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-104847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-coronavirus","tag-corruption","tag-moldova","tag-protest","tag-romania"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nRomania. <\/strong>Almost 3,700 new coronavirus cases and 156 new deaths were reported
\ntoday in Romania, which
\nhas recorded almost 680,000 cases and 16,881 deaths since the start of the
\noutbreak. The
\ngovernment is meeting today to discuss extending the state of alert by a
\nfurther thirty days. No changes to the current restrictions are being
\nconsidered. Ski slopes will remain open, provided physical distancing rules are
\nrespected. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nback to in-person learning, according to an opinion poll conducted by World
\nVision Romania. Most of them are, however, worried about the gaps in learning
\nand the large amount of work children have to catch up with. Children went back
\nto school on Monday after the winter break, but classes are still held online.
\nThe authorities would like to resume in-person learning on 8th
\nFebruary, when the new semester starts, but this depends on the infection rate,
\nexplained education minister Sorin C\u00eempeanu.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nwarned that herd immunity will not be achieved this year despite wide-scale
\nroll out of vaccination, urging people to continue to respect physical
\ndistancing rules, wash their hands and wear face masks. The Organisation has
\nwelcomed the news that China authorised the visit by a team of international
\nexperts to investigate the origin of the novel coronavirus. We look forward to
\nworking closely with our [Chinese] counterparts on this critical mission to
\nidentify the virus source and its route of introduction to human population,
\nthe director general of the World Health Organisation, dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
\nposted on social media. In another development, France is worried about the
\ndiscovery in a number of cities of new cases of contamination with the British
\nvariant of the virus. The French government is considering new restrictions in
\nparallel with the vaccination campaign. Global coronavirus cases surpass 91.3
\nmillion and almost 2 million people have died.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nSanitas today begins a series of actions to support healthcare and social
\nassistance workers unhappy with a government order freezing salaries and
\npensions this year. Trade union members picketed prefectures around the country
\nand the Sanitas Bucharest branch has picketed the government headquarters.
\nThere are also plans to picket the headquarters of the health, labour and
\nfinance ministries and Parliament during the latter’s debates of the state
\nbudget bill. Trade unions say they are planning to send an open letter to the
\npresident and the members of the Romanian Parliament and the European
\nParliament warning that Romania is the only country in Europe to diminish the
\nincomes of the public sector employees directly involved in the fight against
\nthe pandemic.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nAnticorruption Directorate is asking the Prosecutor General’s Office to request
\nthe green light from president Klaus Iohannis for the criminal prosecution of
\nformer prime minister C\u0103lin
\nPopescu T\u0103riceanu, who is accused of bribe taking in 2007 and 2008, during his
\nterm in office. Prosecutors say he indirectly received from an Austrian company
\nmaterial benefits worth 800,000 dollars consisting in consultancy services. In
\nexchange, T\u0103riceanu pushed for the adoption by his cabinet of decisions that
\nbenefitted this company. At the request of the National Anticorruption
\nDirectorate, the Senate was asked in November 2018 to approve the prosecution
\nof T\u0103riceanu, who was a
\nsenator at the time, for bribe taking, but the Senate refused in June 2019.
\nProsecutors are now saying they have additional evidence and new elements have
\nappeared in the case. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nSandu, the new pro-western president of the Republic of Moldova, is today
\nmaking her first official trip abroad after taking office. She is visiting the
\nneighbouring Ukraine at the invitation of her counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. The relations
\nbetween Moldova and Ukraine were strained between 2016 and 2020 during the term
\nof Moldova’s former pro-Russian president of Igor Dodon, who was defeated by
\nMaia Sandu in the November elections. The first top level foreign official to
\nbe received by Sandu was Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis on 29th
\nDecember. The two signed a joint declaration aimed at consolidating the
\nbilateral strategic partnership. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nby 22.6% in Romania in 2020 compared with the previous year, despite new
\nregistrations growing in the last four months of 2020, while the sale of
\necological cars grew by 103.5%, according to a report published today by the
\nAssociation of Car Makers and Importers (APIA). December saw the highest number
\nof new registrations, with more than 18,000 cars, commercial vehicles, buses and
\nminibuses being registered. (CM)<\/p>\n