COVID-19 – 2,877 new Covid-19
\ninfections have been reported in Romania in the past 24 hours out of the 28
\nthousand tests carried out nation-wide, the Strategic Communication Group
\nannounced on Tuesday. 97 fatalities have also been reported and roughly 8
\nthousand people infected are being treated in hospitals, out of whom 1,002 in
\nintensive care units. Over 700 thousand people have been infected on the
\nRomanian soil since the outbreak, and 90% of them have been cured. However, the
\nnumber of those infected with the new strain, initially identified in Britain, is
\non the rise and some experts believe the new form is to gain momentum in
\nRomania in March. The national immunization campaign is in full swing in
\nRomania, which is currently seeing its second stage.<\/p>\n
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VACCINES – Romania wants vaccine certificates
\nnot to affect freedom of travel in the EU, Romania’s Foreign Affairs Minister,
\nBogdan Aurescu, said on Tuesday in a ceremony marking the launch of the six-month
\nPortuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Vaccination is
\nvoluntary, and this should be an important factor, the Romanian official said.
\nMinister Aurescu pointed out that, right now, vaccinated people arriving in
\nRomania are not subject to quarantine. Portuguese Prime Minister Ant\u00f3nio Costa favors the idea that European citizens
\nholding vaccine certificates should travel freely. The idea is supported by
\ntourism-dependent countries, as well as Germany. <\/p>\n
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RECOMMENDATIONS
\n– The European Commission highly recommends member states to apply measures
\naimed at restricting circulation in order to urgently curb the number of
\ntravel-related infections and thus ease pressure on the healthcare institutions
\ndealing with the pandemic. According to the Commission, tests can be done
\nconcurrently with implementing compulsory quarantine up to two weeks. Travelers
\ncan also be required to fill in forms on their journeys and contacts. The
\nmeasures proposed by the EU executive are aimed at limiting the COVID-19
\ninfections and also the virus mutations.<\/p>\n
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BUDGET – Leaders of the Social-Democratic Party in opposition
\non Tuesday talked to the leaders of the main trade confederations about its
\nalternate state budget, which the Social-Democrats want to present publicly on
\nWednesday. The Social-Democrats claim there are enough financial resources for
\ninvestments and the increase in salaries, pensions, even to accommodate the
\ndoubling of state allowances for children. The Social-Democrats accuse the
\ncoalition Government of promoting austerity policies, and have promised they
\nwould also include the proposals of their social partners in their own
\nalternate budget. In turn, Liberal Prime Minister Florin C\u00ee\u0163u said the upcoming
\nbudget is based on a 7% budget deficit, agreed upon with the European
\nCommission, and will focus on investments and healthcare. The Prime Minister
\nalso said the Government is working on modifying the laws on pensions and the single
\nsalary. <\/p>\n
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PROTESTS – Trade unions on Tuesday continued their
\nprotests against the Government’s social policies. Since the start of this
\nmonth unionists have been protesting in front of the presidency, the Government
\nbuilding and various ministries, demanding a decent minimum wage, fair
\npensions, quality public services, the unblocking of collective negotiations,
\nfair taxes and the rightful enactment of laws. Protest actions staged by the
\nCartel Alfa trade confederation, one of the biggest in Romania, are scheduled
\nuntil February 28, and also include memorandums, notifications, petitions or
\ntalks with MPs. The Government in Bucharest says the demands should be taken
\nunder advisement in the context of the crisis generated by the COVID-19
\npandemic, also considering the budget must observe a deficit of 7%. <\/p>\n
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SURVEY – Six in ten Romanians (59%) believe the Diaspora’s main
\ncontribution to Romanian economy consists of money sent to families back home,
\nwhile 21% say it is money spent during their visits to Romania, a recent survey
\nconducted by a company specializing in online money transfers reveals. According
\nto the survey, a Romanian sends home an average of \u20ac500 every month,
\nconsidering the income of someone working Great Britain or Spain is
\napproximately \u20ac2,000. World Bank figures reveal that Romanians sent home some
\n$7.2 billion in 2019, accounting for 3% of the country’s GDP. Still, only 20%
\nof Romanians believe people who’ve left the country contribute to the
\ndevelopment of local economy by means of investments upon their return home.
\nMoreover, 60% of Romanians believe people who left the country should return. (D.
\nBilt & 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":[36011,28963,35374,29053,29682,32585,32402],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-104876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-2021-state-budget","tag-bogdan-aurescu","tag-covid-19","tag-european-commission","tag-survey","tag-trade-union-protests","tag-vaccine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n