COVID-19 – The number of infections in Romania
\nremains low, although it has gone up in recent days. According to the head of
\nthe vaccination campaign, medical doctor Valeriu Gheorghi\u0163\u0103, nearly 90% of the
\npeople currently diagnosed with COVID-19 are not vaccinated, while over 91% of
\nrelated fatalities were people who hadn’t taken the anti-COVID jab. Right now,
\nsome 30% of Romania’s total population got immunized. Starting August 2, young
\npeople aged 12-17 can also receive the Moderna vaccine, Valeriu Gheorghi\u0163\u0103
\nsaid. The Romanian official went on to say that, by mid-September, Romania
\nmight start administering the third dose of the vaccine for at-risk categories,
\nsuch as health workers, chronically ill and people over 65 years of age. So
\nfar, 4.8 million people have completed the full vaccination scheme in Romania.
\nOn Wednesday, 159 new COVID infections were reported and 1 related death. 47
\npeople are in intensive care.<\/p>\n
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GOVERNMENT – The Government is today discussing plans to further ease
\nanti-COVID restrictions starting August 1. Additional measures will be taken in
\nthe case of vaccinated people, those who present a negative PCR test, no older
\nthan 72 hours, or a rapid test no older than 24 hours, or those who have had
\nthe disease in the last six months. All of the aforementioned categories will
\nbe allowed to attend cultural events held outdoors within the limit of 2,500
\npeople, in those towns and villages where the incidence rate is below 3 per
\nthousand inhabitants, and within the limit of 75,000 people where the rate is
\nbelow 2 per thousand. The 2,500-limit can be exceeded in the case of vaccinated
\npeople. For sports events, crowd attendance is limited to 50% of the venue’s
\nfull capacity. Also today, the Government is expected to discuss a bill
\nmodifying the adoption law, by cutting waiting times and making the application
\nprocess non-discriminatory. <\/p>\n
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HEAT WAVE – Meteorologists have issued a code orange alert against
\nextreme heat and thermal discomfort in seven counties in the south and the
\ncapital Bucharest, in place until Saturday. Maximum temperatures are expected
\nto reach 40 degrees Centigrade locally. A code yellow alert against extreme
\nheat is in place until Saturday for all other regions, with highs ranging from
\n34 to 39 degrees. Passenger and freight trains will travel at reduced speeds
\nduring the interval. Road traffic authorities have also warned some
\nrestrictions may be introduced due to the extreme heat. <\/p>\n
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IMF – The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday maintained its
\n6% economic growth estimate for global economy this year and upgraded its
\noutlook on the United States and other developed economies, while downgrading
\nits forecast for a number of developing countries affected by the fallout of
\nCOVID-19. In the case of Romania, in October last year the IMF estimated a
\ngrowth rate of 4.6% this year. The new outlook expects Romanian economic growth
\nto reach 6% this year. Additionally, the IMF has upgraded its forecast for
\n2022, from 3.9% as originally estimated, to 4.8%. According to the new report,
\nRomania’s economic growth rates for 2021 and 2022 will stand above the European
\naverage. <\/p>\n
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INFRINGEMENT – The European Commission decided to start infringement
\nproceedings against 12 Member States, including Romania, for their failure to
\ntranspose EU rules banning unfair trade practices in the agricultural and food
\nsupply chain. The deadline for transposing the regulations into national law
\nwas May 1, 2021. The Commission sent letters of formal notice to Austria,
\nBelgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal,
\nRomania, Slovenia and Spain requesting them to adopt and notify the relevant
\nmeasures. The Member States have now two months to reply.<\/p>\n
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BEAR CENSUS – A bear census worth 11 million Euro
\nstarted on Wednesday in Romania. Minister for Investments and European
\nProjects, Cristian Ghinea, explained the project is funded under the Large
\nInfrastructure Operational Programme. There will be two lines of investment,
\none focusing on the bear census itself, while the other will help implement state-of-the-art
\ntechnologies aimed at limiting the interaction of bears with humans. On the
\nother hand, the Senate convened in an extraordinary sitting today to discuss
\nthe Government’s emergency decree regulating emergency intervention in case of
\nbear attacks. Adopted last week, the bill stipulates bears can be tranquilized
\nand relocated in low-risk cases, or even shot if they pose a risk to the
\nlivelihood of people or their livestock. <\/p>\n
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OLYMPICS – Romania has won two medals in Wednesday’s
\nrowing finals at the Tokyo Olympics: Ancu\u0163a
\nBodnar and Simona Radi\u015f won gold in the women’s double scull event, while
\nRomania’s four crew, made up of Mih\u0103i\u0163\u0103 \u0162ig\u0103nescu, Mugurel Semciuc, \u015etefan
\nBerariu and Cosmin Pascari scooped silver. Adding to the two medals is
\nAna-Maria Popescu’s silver medal scooped in the women’s epee event. Also on
\nWednesday, three Romanian rowing crews secured qualification to the A Finals:
\nthe women’s lightweight double scull crew, the men’s pair and the women’s eight
\ncrew. In swimming, David Popovici has qualified to the A final of the 100-meter
\nfreestyle event from fifth position with a time of 47.72. Earlier this month,
\nPopovici set a new world junior record at the European championships in Rome. (VP)<\/p>\n
<\/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":[36328,35374,30591,36327,31969,29710,36291,32305],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-bear-census","tag-covid-19","tag-heat-wave","tag-imf-estimates","tag-infringement","tag-restrictions","tag-tokyo-olympics","tag-vaccination-campaign"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n