COVID-19 IN
\nROMANIA – The capital city Bucharest and Bra\u015fov, Cluj, Hunedoara, Ilfov, S\u0103laj and Timi\u015f counties have
\nentered the red zone, the infection rate having exceed 3 per thousand
\ninhabitants in these areas. On Sunday another 4,400 new infections were announced,
\nby nearly 1,000 more than the previous week. The total number of infections
\nstands at some 859 thousand, with the death toll closing in on 21,500. Over
\n1,200 people are in intensive care. Prime Minister Florin C\u00ee\u0163u has called for
\nidentifying new hospitals to join the fight against COVID-19, by increasing the
\nnumber of ICU beds to 1,600 and ensuring the necessary supply of medicines and
\ncontinuing vaccination. We recall the state of alert has been extended for another
\n30 days. All restrictions imposed so far remain in place, with the
\nexception of the nighttime curfew, which now begins at 10 PM and ends at 5 AM. <\/p>\n
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COVID-19 IN THE WORLD – The Netherlands has suspended the use
\nof the AstraZeneca anti-COVID vaccine
\nas a precaution after possible side effects were reported in Denmark and
\nNorway, without a confirmed connection being established so far. Several other
\nEuropean countries suspended their AstraZeneca vaccine rollouts after people
\nwho took the vaccine developed blood clots. AstraZeneca announced it concluded
\nan analysis of the anti-COVID vaccination process and found no risk of blood
\nclots in people who were immunized with its vaccine. The number of blood clots
\ndeveloped in people who took the vaccine is inferior to estimates, the
\npharmaceutical company announced. The European Medicines Agency announced the vaccine’s
\nbenefits continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be
\nadministered while investigation of cases of thromboembolic events is ongoing.
\nOn the other hand, large areas of Italy today enter a three-week lockdown in an
\nattempt to slow down the spread of the virus. People coming in and out of this
\ncountry need to provide PCR negative tests for COVID-19. Israel, on the other
\nhand, continues to ease restrictions. <\/p>\n
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VACCINATION
\n– The vaccination campaign in Romania today entered its third stage addressing
\nthe general population. For the time being the immunization process is carried
\nout in towns and villages where the COVID infection rate exceeds 4.5 per thousand
\ninhabitants. People can register on waiting lists on the online platform. Meanwhile
\npeople who enrolled in the second phase continue to get their shots. So far
\nover 2.2 million people have taken one of the three vaccines rolled out in
\nRomania – Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca. <\/p>\n
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MESSAGE – Romania’s
\npresident, Klaus Iohannis, today conveyed a message marking the Day of
\nHungarians Worldwide. In his message, the president said that fostering
\ninterethnic harmony will help consolidate a stronger and more prosperous
\nsociety. The head of state referred to the significant contribution of the
\nHungarian minority in Romania and its political representatives to Romania’s
\nefforts towards European integration, promoting democratic values, human rights
\nand the protection of minorities as underlying elements of Romanian society. These
\nare the foundations of our common path towards a European future that shows a
\ndeep understanding of the mistakes of the past, president Iohannis said in his
\nmessage. <\/p>\n
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FIRE – A
\nfire broke out today at the Psychiatry Hospital in Cavnic, northwestern
\nRomania. 71 people were evacuated after a fire broke out in a bathroom on the
\nthird floor. The fire was extinguished without any victims being reported.
\nAfter ventilating all wards, patients were returned to the hospital. This is
\nthe latest in a number of fires that recently broke out in hospitals in
\nRomania. On January 29, five people were killed after four wards burned down at
\nthe Matei Bal\u015f Infectious
\nDisease hospital in Bucharest. Also in January, a fire broke out at the
\nPsychiatry Hospital in G\u0103taia, western Romania, and at a hospital in Roman. On
\nDecember 25, 2020, a paitent died in another fire at the Socola Psychiatry
\nHospital in Ia\u015fi, northeastern Romania. The most serious such incident remains
\nthe fire of November, 2020 at the Piatra Neam\u0163 county hospital, which killed 10
\npeople. <\/p>\n
ENERGY -
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HANDBALL
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\nRomania’s Energy Minister, Virgil Popescu, is starting today on a two-day visit
\nto Brussels, where he will try to persuade EU officials to approve the \u20ac1.33
\nbillion restructuring plan for the Oltenia Energy Company. Oltenia needs a
\ntotal of \u20ac3.5 billion to cover restructuring costs over the next 5 years, of
\nwhich \u20ac1.5 billion is provided by the Company, and the rest by the state. In
\nFebruary, the European Commission announced the launch of a comprehensive
\ninvestigation of the state funding allotted to restructure the company,
\nclaiming the company’s energy output won’t change significantly after its
\nreorganization. Romanian authorities hope to obtain the approval of the
\nEuropean Commission by the end of April, so that the Oltenia Energy Company
\nshould be able to pay CO2 permits for 2020 penalty-free. <\/p>\n
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\n– The Romanian men’s national handball team surprisingly lost 30-25 to Kosovo
\non Sunday in a match counting towards Group 8 in the second phase of the 2022
\nEuropean Championship preliminaries. After it drew against Kosovo away from
\nhome a few days before, Romania was humiliated in Bucharest. Sweden is top of
\nthe group tables with 6 points in 3 games, followed by Romania with 3 points in
\n4 games, Kosovo with 3 points in 4 games and Montenegro with 2 points in 3
\ngames. Romania’s next fixtures will be against Sweden on April 28 in Sibiu and
\nagainst Montenegro on May 2 in Podgorica. Romania last qualified to a European
\nChampionship in 1996, in Spain, where it ranked 9th. (V.P.)<\/p>\n