COVID-19 – 30,168 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 were reported in the last
\n24 hours in Romania in addition to 75 related fatalities, of which three were
\nprior to the reference period, the Group for Strategic Communication announced
\non Saturday. Romania on Wednesday reported a record-high number of new
\ninfections since the start of the pandemic – 34,255. In Bucharest, the
\nincidence rate has exceeded 16 per thousand inhabitants. The rate has increased
\nsteadily since January 1, when it stood at 0.72. Against the backdrop of the growing infection
\nrate and the swift spread of the Omicron strain, the Romanian authorities are
\nlooking for ways to facilitate access to testing and treatment, in order to
\nrelieve the burden on hospitals and ambulance services. People can get a rapid
\ntest for Covid free of charge in over 4,000 family physician practices across
\nthe country, or by paying a small fee in some 138 drug stores. At national
\nlevel, the Covid bed occupation rate stands at some 30%, although there are
\nsignificant differences between counties. For the time being, the occupation
\nrate has not exceeded 75% in any county. If this rate is exceeded, classes will
\nmove online. For the time being, however, pupils in nearly all schooling units
\nwill continue classes with full physical attendance starting Monday. The
\nEducation Ministry announced, however, that pupils in some 108 units will
\nattend classes online due to high numbers of infection reported in these
\nschools. <\/p>\n
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JETS – The German Air Forces will deploy three Eurofighter jets to
\nRomania in February and March, in the context of NATO consolidating its
\nmilitary presence in Eastern Europe, amidst growing tensions on the Ukrainian
\nborder. The jets will be integrated in the Italian squadron that was deployed
\nto Romania last month. The Italian unit comprises 140 military, including
\npilots and technical staff, operating four Eurofighter Typhoon jets and
\ncarrying out air policing missions. On the other hand, Washington will soon be
\ndeploying troops to Eastern Europe, US president Joe Biden has announced. The
\nUnited States has already put 8,500 troops on high alert in order to supplement
\nNATO’s rapid response force in case of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. President
\nBiden said, however, that no American troops will be dispatched to Ukraine,
\nwhich is not a member of NATO. In turn, France’s Defense Minister, Florence
\nParly, told France Inter that Paris is willing to send hundreds of troops to
\nRomania, a NATO member and a neighbor of Ukraine. France is also ready to take
\nresponsibility for building an international defense force to defend Romania,
\nin the event such a decision is taken at NATO level. <\/p>\n
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UKRAINE – The European Union has condemned Russia’s decision to ban
\nthe entry to Russia of several European officials, a decision that continues to
\ndeepen the crisis in Ukraine. The Russian diplomacy on Friday announced that
\nthe heads of several European private military companies, members of security
\nagencies and certain MEPs and other European officials will be henceforth
\nbanned from entering Russia. According to the Russian Ministry for Foreign
\nAffairs, these people are personally responsible for promoting anti-Russian
\npolicies. In response, Brussels says this decision lacks any legal
\njustification and transparency, and is bound to generate an adequate response.
\nIn other new, France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, had a telephone conversation
\nwith his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. According to the French
\npresidency, Putin made no mention of any aggressive intensions and specifically
\npointed out he seeks no armed confrontation with Ukraine. Additionally, the
\nKremlin leader insisted on resuming Russian-Ukrainian negotiations, moderated
\nby France and Germany in the so-called Normandy format. In turn, Ukraine’s
\npresident, Volodymyr Zelensky, urged Western leaders not to spread panic
\nregarding tensions with Russia, considering that diplomatic efforts have
\nintensified with a view to solving this crisis. <\/p>\n
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EXPO 2020 DUBAI – Romania’s pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai on Friday
\nplayed host to a special event aimed at raising public awareness regarding the
\nimportance of water as a key and indispensable nutrient for the human body.
\nWater sommelier Claudia Benea talked about the benefits of mineral waters.
\nParticipants were invited to sample a wide variety of Romanian mineral waters.
\nRomania is one of countries home to rich sources of underground water, with thousands
\nof pristine springs containing mineral salts. We recall that the Expo 2020
\nDubai is running from October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022. (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":[35374,36513,36535,36009,36533,36537,36534,36536],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-covid-19","tag-crisis-in-ukraine","tag-eurofighter-jets","tag-expo-2020-dubai","tag-free-testing","tag-french-presidency","tag-incidence-rate","tag-russian-bans"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n