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COVID-19<\/b> – The epidemiological
\nsituation remains complicated in Romania, as more than 16,700 new cases and 523
\nnew fatalities, including 12 recorded earlier, were reported in the last 24
\nhours, according to official data published on Tuesday. Also, 1,867 Covid
\npatients are in intensive care. These are the second highest daily figures for
\nnew infections and fatalities since the start of the pandemic, with the highest
\nbeing recorded on October 19. Amid this dramatic situation, an increasing
\nnumber of people are getting the Covid vaccine. More than 111,000 people
\nreceived their first jab in the last 24 hours, which is a record high. The
\ntotal number of fully jabbed people in this country has exceeded 6 million.<\/p>\n
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TREATMENT <\/b>– The European
\nCommission established a portfolio of ten potential therapeutics for Covid-19.
\nThese will become available across the European Union as fast as possible,
\nprovided their safety and effectiveness are confirmed by the European Medicines
\nAgency. The list of ten is divided into three categories of treatments: antiviral
\nmonoclonal antibodies that are most effective in the earliest stages of
\ninfection; oral antivirals for use as quickly as possible after the infection;
\nand immunomodulators to treat hospitalized patients. According to the EU
\nCommissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides, four joint procurement
\ncontracts for different Covid-19 treatments have already been signed.<\/p>\n
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VISIT <\/b>– Romanian president
\nKlaus Iohannis will be travelling to Egypt on Wednesday on an official visit at
\nthe invitation of his counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. The visit comes
\nagainst the backdrop of very good bilateral dialogue in recent years and the
\nanniversary of 115 years of diplomatic relations between Romania and Egypt. The
\ntwo presidents are expected to discuss concrete ways to boost political and
\ndiplomatic dialogue and cooperation at all levels, including economic, by
\nstimulating trade exchanges and investments. Talks will also look at
\ninternational issues, with emphasis on the latest political and security
\ndevelopments in the Middle East and the mediation efforts in certain areas of
\ninterest to both parties. Iohannis is also due to meet the speaker of the
\nEgyptian Parliament’s Chamber of Representatives, Hanafy Ali El-Gebaly, and the
\nspeaker of the Senate, Abdel-Wahab Abdel-Razeq.<\/p>\n
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GOVERNMENT <\/b>– Prime Minister
\ndesignate Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 on Tuesday published an open letter addressed
\nto parliamentary parties, offering a political truce in return for their
\nsupport of a minority government made up of the National Liberal Party and the
\nDemocratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania. The Prime Minister says
\nRomania is in a difficult epidemiological and political situation, and two
\nconsecutive attempts at forming a Cabinet have failed in the last three weeks. The
\nSocial Democrats made their support conditional on the new government’s
\ncommitting to implement ten urgent measures in the healthcare and economic
\nsectors. The Save Romania Union is not in favour of a minority government and
\nis proposing instead the restoration of the ruling coalition it used to be part
\nof from last December until September this year, when it withdrew from
\ngovernment over a conflict with prime minister Florin Citu. Citu went on
\nto lose a confidence vote in Parliament. Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 has until the end of the
\nweek to propose a new government and programme. Meanwhile, former Prime
\nMinister and Chamber of Deputies Speaker, Ludovic Orban, resigned from the
\ngroup of Liberals in the Chamber of Deputies, and announced he is now an
\nunaffiliated MP. In a speech before Parliament, Orban referred to what he has
\ntermed an artificial political crisis, saying the main ruling party was torn
\nto pieces against the backdrop of the health and economic crisis. Citizens
\nwere left without a fully-fledged government and the country is adrift, Orban
\nwent on to say. We recall Orban lost the leadership of PNL to the outgoing
\nPrime Minister, Florin C\u00ee\u0163u. <\/p>\n
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DEFICIT <\/b>– Romania’s budget
\ndeficit hit 3.77% of GDP in the first 9 months of the year, down 2.6% compared
\nwith the similar period last year. Budget revenues grew by 18.7% in the first
\nnine months of this year, more than over the same period last year, according
\nto the finance ministry. Consolidated budget expenditure went up by 6.7%
\ncompared with the same period in 2020.<\/p>\n
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TENNIS <\/b>– Two Romanian
\nplayers, Irina Begu and Irina Bara, played each other on Tuesday Transylvania
\nOpen, a WTA 250 tennis tournament hosted by the western Romanian city of Cluj
\nNapoca and worth over 235,000 dollars in prize money. Another Romanian player,
\nJaqueline Cristian, on Tuesday won against Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6. On Monday,
\nAna Bogdan defeated Serbia’s Ivana Jorovic to reach the second round. Another
\ntwo Romanian players, Alexandra Ignatik and Andreea Pris\u0103cariu, were eliminated
\nin the first round. (CM & 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":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n