COVID-19 ROMANIA – The Government has extended the state of alert for another
\n30 days, starting July 12. Pre-emptive and control measures remain in place,
\nwith a few modifications, the most important of which is the extension from 90
\nto 180 days of the period of exemption from these measures for those people
\nwho’ve had the disease. On the other hand, the head of the vaccination
\ncampaign, medical doctor Valeriu Gheorghi\u0163\u0103, warned that, starting next month,
\nRomania could face a resurge in the number of COVID infections due to the new
\nDelta strain, calling again on the population to get the jab. Since the start
\nof the vaccination campaign, nearly 4.8 million people have received the COVID
\nvaccine, of whom 4.6 million have completed the full vaccination scheme. In the
\nlast 24 hours, 54 new infections have been reported in addition to 1 related death.
\n58 patients are in intensive care. <\/p>\n
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3SI – Romania remains firmly
\ncommitted in the Three Seas Initiative by means of pragmatic actions,
\nsupporting clear-cut solutions to curb delays and consolidating resilience in
\nthe region, president Klaus Iohannis said on the sidelines of the Three Seas
\nInitiative (3SI) summit in Bulgaria, bringing together 12 EU Member States from
\nthe Baltic, Adriatic and Black seas. The president referred to the special
\nattention Romania pays to the Rail-2-Sea and Via Carpathia projects,
\ndescribing them as concrete initiatives of major economic consequence and real
\nstrategic value for the region. Developing the parliamentary, local and
\nregional components of 3SI, in addition to inter-government cooperation, is
\nmost welcome. The ultimate goal of all these efforts remains the thorough implementation
\nof interconnection projects of strategic priority in three key areas -
\ntransport, energy and digitization, president Iohannis said. The Romanian head
\nof state also recalled the inauguration on May 31 of the Euro-Atlantic
\nResilience Center in Bucharest, which will help fulfill the strategic goal of
\nbuilding resilience. Against this backdrop, the growing interest of an
\nincreasing number of states in the trans-Atlantic community for the
\nInitiative’s activities comes as no surprise, and Romania welcomes and supports
\nit, president Iohannis went on to say. <\/p>\n
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EXPLOSION – The blast at AzoMure\u015f Chemical Plant in T\u00e2rgu Mure\u015f, which slightly
\ninjured one person, could not be prevented, according to a preliminary report
\nof the investigation. A mixed commission is investigating the circumstances of
\nthe incident. The authorities gave assurances that the blast did not put the
\npopulation in danger, as air quality measurements have detected no ammoniac
\nemissions. According to preliminary reports, a crack in one of the gas pipes
\ntriggered the explosion and the ensuing fire. The last technical checkup was
\nperformed in 2013, and the pipe was due to undergo an inspection in 2022. <\/p>\n
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REAGENTS – A large number of lab tests carried out in
\nrecent years in Romania could be inaccurate, after state and privately-run
\npathology labs used non-compliant reagents. The Prosecutor’s Office with the
\nBucharest Tribunal has launched an investigation, which has so far revealed
\nthat, starting 2017, representatives of a company trading reagents and medical
\nequipment deliberately misinformed its trade partners over the quality of its
\nproducts. The company owned, produced and sold toxic products and chemicals
\nused in the medical sector, without being licensed to carry out such
\nactivities. Nearly 20 searches were made in Bucharest and three counties as
\npart of the investigation. The company faces possible charges of racketeering
\nand illegal use of toxic chemicals for medical use. <\/p>\n
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FITS – The International Theatre Festival in Sibiu (FITS),
\none of the most acclaimed festivals in the world devoted to performing arts,
\nwill take place over August 20-29. Over 600 events organized by artists from 37
\ncountries across all continents will be presented to the public as part of the
\nmost complex edition held so far, organizers say. Themed Building hope
\ntogether, this year’s festival will unfold with physical attendance, in hybrid
\nformat and online. Organizers have prepared theatre plays, dance performances,
\ncircus shows, film screenings, musicals, opera concerts, book launches,
\nconferences, exhibitions, music concerts and street performances. Israel Galv\u00e1n Company, Charlotte
\nRampling, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, Mar\u00eda
\nPag\u00e9s Compa\u0144\u00eda are but some of the big names and foreign companies taking parts
\nin FITS 2021. <\/p>\n
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OLYMPICS – Postponed a year ago
\ndue to the COVID pandemic, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Japan will go down in
\nhistory as the first Olympic competition to take place without crowd
\nattendance. The measure follows after the Japanese Government declared a state
\nof emergency until August 22. The Olympic Games start on July 23 and end on
\nAugust 8. A little over 15% of Japan’s population has been immunized so far,
\nalthough experts fear the Delta strain might trigger a new wave that could add
\nfurther strain on hospitals. The Olympic torch arrived today in Tokyo as part
\nof a restricted ceremony hosted on an empty stadium, and was handed over to the
\nGovernor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike. (VP)<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[36294,36288,35374,34823,36295,36291],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-3si","tag-azomures","tag-covid-19","tag-fits","tag-reagents","tag-tokyo-olympics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n