COVID-19 IN
\nROMANIA – In Romania, almost 3.7 million doses of vaccine have been
\nadministered so far. 1.4 million people have received both jabs. Authorities
\nhave announced that 171 new vaccination centers will be opened this week. The
\npresident of the National Committee for the coordination of activities
\nregarding the vaccination against SARS-CoV-2, doctor Valeriu Gheorghi\u0163\u0103, has
\ngiven assurances that, starting this week, approximately 80,000 people will be
\nimmunized daily. In turn, Prime Minister Florin C\u00ee\u0163u has stated that the recent
\nevolution of the pandemic, with a slight improvement in terms of new infections
\nreported, but with an accelerated increase in the number of serious cases,
\nrequires finding solutions to reach the target of 1,600 places in intensive
\ncare. For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, there are over
\n1,500 infected people in serious condition, and the Intensive Care Units are
\nfull. Romania has exceeded one million infections with the new coronavirus and
\n25 thousand deaths. In the last 24 hours, over 2,300 cases of infection and 113
\ndeaths were reported.<\/p>\n
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COVID-19 IN
\nTHE WORLD – The United Kingdom has lifted many of the restrictions imposed
\nbecause of the coronavirus pandemic, after months of lockdown. Prime Minister
\nBoris Johnson described the moment as an important step towards normalcy, but
\nurged the population to behave responsibly. In Italy, several regions are no
\nlonger in the high-risk category. As regards France, the vaccination campaign
\nhas been accelerated, as the country struggles to control the third wave of the
\nCOVID-19 pandemic. Germany has exceeded the threshold of three million cases of
\nCOVID-19, and calls to tighten restrictions are growing. The number of COVID-19
\ninfections is also increasing in Spain, where several regions have exceeded the
\nextreme risk threshold. One of the most affected regions is that of the capital
\nMadrid. In other news, the American company Johnson & Johnson on Monday
\nmade its first vaccine deliveries to EU member states. The serum is the fourth
\nto be greenlit by the European Medicines Agency, after Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna
\nand AstraZeneca. Johnson & Johnson is already being administered in the
\nUnited States and South Africa and has been certified for population use in
\nCanada. <\/p>\n
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SCHOOL -
\nAs of Monday, Romanian 8th and 12th graders return to
\nclasses in 100% online format, until April 29, when the Easter holiday starts.
\nThe current school year has changed due to the negative evolution of the
\npandemic this spring, so the holiday has been extended for preschoolers and
\npupils, except for those who will take the national exams. As of next autumn, semesters
\nmight be replaced by quarters, and the next school year could be extended to
\nrecover what has been lost by teaching online in the past year, but only if the
\neducation unions, pupils and parents agree. The relevant minister, Sorin
\nC\u00eempeanu, says that all the solutions that will result from these consultations
\nwill be considered.<\/p>\n
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MOTION -
\nThe Social-Democratic Party in opposition has announced the filing of a simple
\nmotion against Health Minister Vlad Voiculescu, the second in the current
\nlegislature. The Social-Democrats claim Voiculescu is not the right man for
\nmanaging the health crisis, is causing confusion, does not observe mandatory
\nregulations and is arguing with everyone. Vociulescu was appointed on behalf
\nof the USR-PLUS Alliance, and his position was examined on Monday by the
\ncenter-right ruling coalition, who decided to continue to support Voiculescu.
\nRelations between the Health Minister and Liberal Prime Minister Florin Citu
\nwere strained after the forced evacuation of an orthopedics emergency hospital
\nin Bucharest which now receives COVID patients. Vlad Voiculescu pointed out
\nthat the hospital is not currently in the subordination of the Health Ministry
\nand that he could not overrule the hospital manager’s decision. <\/p>\n
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NATO -
\nThe Cyber \u200b\u200bDefense Command of the Romanian Ministry of Defense participates,
\nbetween April 13-16, in the international cyber defense exercise Locked Shields
\n2021. Teams from allied and partner states made up of military and civilian
\nprofessionals take part in the exercise that takes place in online format,
\nplanned and organized by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of
\nExcellence in Tallinn, Estonia. The aim of the exercise is to improve the
\ntraining of cyber security specialists and act in large interdepartmental and
\nmultidisciplinary teams in order to protect information technology networks and
\nnational critical infrastructures against multiple and multidirectional cyber-attacks
\nin real time. Locked Shields 2021 takes place in a real-world scenario, using
\nstate-of-the-art specific technologies and simulating massive cyber incidents,
\nincluding strategic decision-making, legal and public communication.<\/p>\n
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CENSUS -
\nA trial census was carried out in February and March in Romania, in preparation
\nfor the Population and Housing Census, initially scheduled for 2021, but
\npostponed for next year. According to the National Institute of Statistics, the
\ntrial census, in which 50,000 households from all over the country
\nparticipated, was aimed at testing the data collection capacity, the
\nfunctioning of the technical solution for self-census, as well as the
\norganization of the workflow in the review process. The novel elements include
\nthe possibility for each person to self-review by simply accessing a link, the
\nelimination of paper questionnaires and the use by reviewers of tablets
\nprovided by the Special Telecommunications Service. Starting 2021, the
\nPopulation and Housing Census will be carried out in all EU Member States in
\naccordance with the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.<\/p>\n
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EARNINGS
\n– The average net salary in Romania decreased to 3,365 lei (about 680 Euros) in
\nFebruary, 0.9% lower than in January – according to data from the National
\nInstitute of Statistics published on Monday. In February, in most activities in
\nthe economic sector, the level of average net earnings decreased as a result of
\nthe granting in the previous months of occasional bonuses (quarterly and annual
\nbonuses, for special performances or the 13th salary), rights in kind and
\nbenefits, net profits and amounts from other funds. The highest values \u200b\u200bof
\naverage net salary were recorded in IT services, and the lowest in hotels and
\nrestaurants. According to the NIS, compared to February 2020, the average net
\nsalary increased by 5.1%.in February 2021. (M.I. & V.P.)<\/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":[36126,35374,36128,35565,36127,30883,30130,32305,30376],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-census","tag-covid-19","tag-earnings-statistics","tag-lockdown-restrictions","tag-locked-shields-20121","tag-school-year","tag-simple-motion","tag-vaccination-campaign","tag-vlad-voiculescu"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n