July 13, 2020 UPDATE

A roundup of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 13.07.2020, 20:00

Coronavirus Romania. Covid-19 infections near 33,000 in Romania since the beginning of the pandemic. Almost 21,700 people
have recovered, some 235 are in intensive care, and the death toll has passed
1,900. More than 5,100 cases have been confirmed among the Romanians living
abroad, as well as 122 fatalities.

Coronavirus
world. The director general
of the World Health Organisation Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that
too many countries are headed in the wrong direction and that the
novel coronavirus remain public enemy number one. He said the situation can
only become worse unless basic measures are taken to control it and that there
will be no return to the old normal for the foreseeable future. Global coronavirus infections near 13 million
confirmed cases, with and almost 600,000 deaths. The situation continues to
deteriorate in the United States, Latin America, India and Russia.

Restrictions.
Lithuania has banned the access of Romanian travellers to due to the rising number of
Covid-19 infections in Romania. The authorities in Vilnius are assessing the
decision on a weekly basis. Lithuania isn’t the only European country imposing
restrictions to Romanian citizens. Greece is also asking tourists to produce a
negative Covid test taken in the past 72 hours when entering the Greek border,
while Austria requires Covid-19 tests not older than 4 days. Other European
countries like Finland, Malta, Slovakia, Estonia, Ireland, the Netherlands,
Slovenia and Hungary ask travellers to isolate or quarantine. 20 European
countries have imposed restrictions for travellers coming from Romania.

Law. The Senate’s legal committee on Monday resumed debates on the law
regulating quarantine and isolation. No new date was set for a final vote in
the Senate, which is the decision-making body in this case. Talks focused on
the specific provisions referring to the restriction of rights and liberties in
case of a high epidemiological risk. The bill was initiated by the government
after the Constitutional Court ruled that isolation at home, quarantine and
hospitalisation cannot be imposed based on ministerial order as was the case so
far, even when the persons in question are infected with the novel coronavirus.
The Constitutional court said the restrictive measures must be based on a law
that clearly regulates them. On Thursday, the Chamber of Deputies passed the
bill in a much amended form. Postponing a debate on the bill in the Senate
means a dramatic increase in the risk of infection, said prime minister Ludovic
Orban, adding that the law is indispensable. On Sunday evening, hundreds of
people protested against the quarantine and isolation law in front of the
government building.

Partnership. Prime minister Ludovic
Orban on Monday stated his government’s openness towards consolidating the
French-Romanian strategic partnership. On the eve of France’s national day on
the 14th of July, he attended a roundtable by video conference held
by the French Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Romania. The
prime minister hailed the active contribution of French companies in various
sectors in Romania. The French ambassador to Bucharest Michele Ramis said
Romania is a dynamic EU market and that the relationship between the two
countries is exceptional, almost fraternal.

Fencing. The International
Fencing Federation has designated Romania’s Ana Maria Popescu winner of the
2020 World Cup in women’s epee as early as this month as many competitions
could not be held because of the Covid pandemic. The Romanian fencer is
followed in the ranking by Brazil’s Nathalie Moellhausen and China’s Sun Yiwen.
Ana Maria Popescu has already won this title three times, in 2008, 2009 and
2013. With this fourth win, she becomes the fencer with most titles in the
history of the World Cup in epee, ahead of France’s Laura Flessel and Hungary’s Emese
Szasz-Kovacs, each with three world titles to their names. (CM)