8 April, 2020

The latest news from Romania and the world.

Newsroom, 08.04.2020, 13:55

Pandemic Romania. 209 people have died with coronavirus in Romania, according to
Wednesday’s official report, while the number of cases reached 4,761, with 344
new infections since the previous report. 528 people have recovered. 162
patients are in intensive care. Of the 651 Romanian citizens living abroad who are
infected, 412 are in Italy and 195 in Spain. 37 Romanian nationals living
abroad have died since the outbreak started. The Romanian health minister Nelu
Tataru says Romania is yet to reach the peak of the outbreak, which is expected
in the second half of the month.

Pandemic world. Coronavirus cases worldwide pass 1.4 million, while the number of deaths
has exceeded 82,000. 300,000 people have recovered. Five countries have
reported more than 100,000 cases, namely the United States, Spain, Italy,
France and Germany. More than 1,900 people died in the US in the last 24 hours,
which is the highest daily toll around the world since the start of the
outbreak. In one piece of good news coming from Europe, no new deaths have been
reported in Italy, where the death toll is however the biggest in the world.
Romania has sent eleven doctors and four nurses to Italy to assist their
colleague from Lombardy for 14 days. In another development, the vice-president
of the European commissioner for value and transparency Vera Jourova says the EU
has identified disinformation pieces coming from Russia about the coronavirus
pandemic and intended to cause fear and anxiety among the population.

International
Romani Day. In these extremely difficult times when the number one priority is to
counter the negative effects of the pandemic, Romanian society needs a show of
solidarity and responsibility from each and every citizen, regardless of ethnic
group, said president Klaus Iohannis in a statement on International Romani
Day. He said overcoming the flaws of the public systems in addressing the
problems of the Roma population and eliminating the causes of its social
marginalisation are issues Romania is faced with. The Romanian foreign minister
has underlined that it is the duty of all social players to avoid a discourse
based on hatred, discrimination, racism and xenophobia. The foreign ministry in
Bucharest has firmly condemned any racist or xenophobic act and has urged for
common responsibility in fighting prejudice, discrimination and extremist
action of an ethnic or racist nature.

Appeal.
The European Union must rapidly respond to the needs of its citizens and
mobilise unprecedented resources to cope with the effects of the Covid-19
pandemic, which undermines Europe’s democracies, according to a letter by
Parliament speakers from seven European countries, France, Spain, Greece,
Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal and Slovenia, France Pressed news agency reports. In
an appeal to the leaders of the main EU institutions, they say the gravity of the
situation calls for unprecedented mobilisation of resources, especially in the
eurozone, invoking the spirit of solidarity that is the foundation of European
integration.

Resignation.
EU science chief Mauro Ferrari has resigned over the response of the EU bloc to
the coronavirus outbreak. Ferrari, who took over in January for a four-year
term, has invoked the institutional resistance and bureaucratic infighting
within the EU complex structures to his proposal for a widescale scientific
programme to combat COvid-19. EU governments and institutions have been accused
of chaotic response to the pandemic, failing to respond quickly and not working
together, Reuters notes. On Wednesday, for example, European
finance ministers failed to reach an agreement on a common relief package to
counteract the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Book
fair. The 15th edition of Bookfest International Book Fair due to
take place in Bucharest between the 27th and the 31st of
May has been cancelled. The decision comes after an announcement by president
Klaus Iohannis that the state of emergency will be extended for another 30
days, until the middle of May. Japan was supposed to be the guest country of
the fair this year. Bookfest is one of the many major cultural events cancelled
because of the coronavirus outbreak in Romania. (Tr.: CM)