COVID-19 – Another
\n1,849 new cases of COVID-19 infection and 46 related fatalities were reported
\non Monday in Romania, at the start of the new school year. According to the
\nGroup for Strategic Communication, over 1,1 million people got infected since
\nthe start of the outbreak, of whom some 35 thousand died. Over 5,200 people are
\nnow being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals across Romania, 633 of whom in
\nintensive care. There are 860 beds available for COVID patients requiring
\nintensive care, and the authorities announced plans to supplement their number.
\n5.2 million Romanians have completed the full anti-COVID-19 vaccination scheme,
\naccounting for a third of the eligible population. <\/p>\n
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VOTE – Constitutional
\nCourt judges expect the Government and Parliament to submit an opinion by
\nWednesday, whereby explaining the alleged institutional conflict invoked by
\nLiberal Prime Minister Florin C\u00ee\u0163u in the case of the no-confidence motion
\nfiled by the USR-PLUS alliance, a former junior coalition partner, and AUR, an
\nultranationalist party in opposition. The Government claims the motion was
\nfiled and communicated without observing the proper channels. Once it receives
\nthe said opinion, the Constitutional Court will announce a date for examining
\nthe merits of the case. The latter will also serve as a deadline for the
\nno-confidence vote. Parliament decreed that the motion will be debated only after
\nthe Constitutional Court has issued a ruling in this matter. On the other hand,
\nthe initiators of the motion want the motion to be voted on Tuesday, three days
\nafter having been read in Parliament, as stipulated by internal regulations. <\/p>\n
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SCHOOL YEAR
\n– Nearly 3 million school and pre-school children are starting a new school
\nyear today. The new year comprises 34 weeks, is divided in two semesters and is
\ndue to close on June 11, 2022. Education Minister, Sorin C\u00eempeanu, said on the
\nfirst day festivities are allowed with the participation of parents, although
\nface masks and physical distancing are compulsory. In certain areas of the
\ncountry, where the incidence rate has exceeded 6 per thousand inhabitants in
\nthe last 14 days, children will start school online. There are also some
\nschools where repair works haven’t yet finished. Minister Sorin C\u00eempeanu
\nexpressed hope more children will get vaccinate once school begins, considering
\nthe authorities are willing to set up mobile vaccination units that should immunize
\nchildren in schools. <\/p>\n
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INQUIRY -
\nParliament’s special committee investigating the recent increase in energy
\nprices is due to start its activity this week. The committee was set up with
\nthe support of all parliamentary groups, after this summer energy distributors
\nupped their prices by over 20%. Home consumers fear they will not be able to
\ncope with the mounting financial pressure in the cold season. An analysis
\nconducted by the National Statistics Institute shows that over 1 million
\nfamilies were having trouble paying their electricity and gas bills before the
\nliberalization of the energy markets. Authorities have recently adopted a law
\non vulnerable consumers, but experts believe it will not be enough. <\/p>\n
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POPE FRANCIS
\n– Pope Francis is paying an official visit to Slovakia until Wednesday. His
\nHoly Father previously paid a short visit to Budapest, where he called on
\nHungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, to extend his arms towards everyone.
\nToday, the Pope is meeting members of the Jewish community in Slovakia,
\nincluding Holocaust survivors. On Tuesday, he will travel to the country’s poor
\nregions, to hold talks with representatives of the Roma community. On
\nWednesday, he will return to Bratislava where he will celebrate an open-air
\nservice. Slovakia is one the countries in the EU with the lowest rates of
\nanti-COVID vaccination. The Government originally decided that festivities
\noccasioned by the Pope’s visit should be accessible only to vaccinated people,
\nwhich sparked discontent. Finally, the access has been extended to people
\npresenting a negative test against COVID-19 or a certificate attesting they’ve
\nhad the disease. (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":[35374,36391,29284,29663,30883],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-covid-19","tag-energy-prices-inquiry","tag-no-confidence-motion","tag-pope-francis","tag-school-year"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n