April 15, 2020 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 15.04.2020, 20:00
TALKS Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis had talks on Wednesday with Prime Minister Ludovic Orban and members of the Bucharest government over the measures to be imposed after the state of emergency was extended for another month. The president called on the Romanians to stay at home, because otherwise the number of fatalities will increase after Easter. Another 5 people have been killed by the Covid-19 in Romania, bringing the death toll to 362. The total number of people infected has exceeded 7.200 out of which 1.217 have recovered and were released from hospitals. 245 patients are in intensive care units at present. 709 Romanians are infected by the coronavirus abroad, 420 of them in Italy. 52 Romanian nationals from the diaspora have died since the outbreak.
MEASURES Romanias economy will by shrink nearly 2% this year, the finance minister Florin Cîţu announced. He added that a substantial set of measures is being prepared, aimed at revitalizing the economy at the end of the state of emergency. He explained that the measures to support the economy taken so far account for 3% of the GDP and that he expected the budget deficit to reach 6.7% after this years first budget adjustment. The finance minister said on Wednesday that funding for investments will not be cut, in any field, but that on the contrary, the budget of the Development Ministry is being increased. Investments continue, construction sites are open in Romania. the only way to recover from this is by investing, Florin Cîţu emphasised. He also promised that there will be no tax raises this year, and that cash will be injected in the system, as it was the case so far.
POLL The level of concern over the present medical situation tends to intensify both in countries with little restrictions, such as Poland or the Netherlands, and in countries with severe restrictions such as Italy, Spain or France – a poll released on Wednesday by Kantar shows. According to the survey, two rather optimistic countries like Britain and the United States are seeing increased public concern only two weeks after the previous poll was published. The concern of Germans over the present medical situation remains moderate, as before. Romania has 5% more people concerned since the previous report, with the total figure standing at a rather high 80%. Most of people’s concerns in this country have to do with financial uncertainties. The poll was conducted on more than 45,000 people in 50 countries, of whom 1,800 in Romania.
OIL Tens of ships carrying petrol and airplane fuel are stuck near major storage facilities in Europe, unable to unload as many onshore tank farms are maxing out as a result of demand plummeting over the coronavirus crisis. “There is excessive supply of oil products in the region, a trader told Reuters. Oil fields and refineries across the world have reduced their operations, and some even shut down as the demand for fuel dived. According to the International Energy Agency, in April the global demand for oil is expected to drop to around 70.4 million barrels a day, a level last reported in 1995.
PANDEMIC The restrictions imposed in the EU to contain the spread of the coronavirus are necessary, but they come at a huge economic cost and cannot last forever, the European Commission says in a roadmap for the gradual lifting of isolation measures, made public on Wednesday. Prior to lifting these restrictions, epidemiologic criteria must be met, and the capacity of healthcare systems to receive patients and test citizens must be ensured, Brussels adds. “The Commissions immediate priority is fighting the virus and mitigating the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic. At the same time, we must start looking ahead so that Member States can gradually lift their containment measures, with a view to entering the recovery phase and revitalising our societies and economy, the Commission explained. The total number of cases exceeds 2 million across the globe, with the death toll standing at over 128,000. In the US, the new centre of the pandemic, more than 26,000 deaths have been reported so far. In Europe, the most affected countries remain Spain, Italy, France and the UK. Meanwhile, the US president Donald Trump suspended his countrys contribution to the World Health Organisation, on grounds of “poor management of the pandemic. In response, the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, says now is not the time to cut the resources and operations of the WHO or any other humanitarian organization in fighting the virus.
(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)
