17 July 2020, UPDATE

Romania reports record new daily coronavirus cases./ Senate passes quarantine law./ President Klaus Iohannis attends European Council meeting in Brussels.

Newsroom, 17.07.2020, 20:00

Covid-19 Romania. In Romania, the number of infections with the new coronavirus has
exceeded 35,800. 799 new cases were reported on Friday, the highest increase
since the start of the outbreak. More than 22,300 have recovered, and 1,988
have died. Abroad, more than 5,200 Romanians were confirmed infected with the
new coronavirus, and 122 died. Prime minister Ludovic Orban on Friday held a
videoconference with prefects, urging them to have all the institutions
involved in the fight against the pandemic remain focused, mobilised and
responsible. He asked them to have all available resources on stand-by to be
able to fight efficiently against the spread of the virus and punish all
violations of the rules. The prime minister also called for special care to be given
to public transport.

Pandemic. More than 14 million
people have been infected with the new coronavirus in the world since the
beginning of the pandemic and more than 594,000 have died, while over 8.3
million people have recovered. The USA and
Brazil reported new record increases in the number of new cases. Israel has
imposed restrictions at the weekends as of Friday due to the large number of
new daily cases, with restaurants, gyms, shops, shopping centres, hairdressers,
libraries and museums to be closed. In the face of rising contamination and the
threat of a second wave, several European countries continue to tighten
sanitation and quarantine conditions. Germany, one of the relatively least affected
countries, has authorised tighter local quarantine measures, with bans on
exit from limited geographical areas in the event of peak contamination.
In France, where cases have spiked in recent days, wearing a mask will become
mandatory next week in all enclosed public spaces. Sweden, which has attracted
worldwide attention with its less strict coronavirus strategy, is now facing a
record number of new cases in the European Union, but authorities say the
epidemic is slowing down. The regional authorities in Catalonia on Friday urged
the inhabitants of Barcelona, Spain’s second largest city, to stay at home and
not assemble in groups of more than ten people.

Quarantine law. On Thursday, the Romanian Senate adopted, as a decision-making body, the
law on quarantine and isolation. In six days of debates, the bill initiated by
the Government went through numerous changes. Earlier, in the Chamber of
Deputies, the document, harshly criticised by specialists, the opposition and
NGOs, was amended considerably. Its final version stipulates, among other
things, that the quarantine measure is established on the basis of official
scientific statements and case definition, at the person’s home, at a location
declared by them or in a space designated by the authorities.

Economy.
The Romanian Government has approved a set of bills aimed at restarting
economic activities. They provide for funding for digitization and staff
training, which can benefit large companies as well as SMEs. At the same time,
the Executive adopted a project granting 200 million euros for the
establishment of enterprises in rural areas and an emergency ordinance that
supports the leasing of equipment and machinery by SMEs. Another bill allocates
150 million euros to support new business ideas proposed by students, while the
elderly people with low pensions will receive electronic vouchers for a hot
meal.

European Council. Brussels is playing host to an extraordinary meeting of the European
Council. The meeting is dedicated to negotiating the multiannual budget of the
European Union for the next seven years and the European Economic Recovery
Plan. Present at the meeting, the Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis suports his his country’s major objective, namely to obtain as big an
allocation as possible under the common agricultural policy and the cohesion policy.
Iohannis is also in favour of for appropriate allocations for the less
developed regions of the Union, as well as for increased flexibility in the
absorption of funds. Regarding the economic recovery plan, Klaus Iohannis supports the option of a higher share of grants compared to loans in the total
amounts allocated and the idea of a long period for the
implementation of the new recovery instrument, so that the amounts can be fully
and efficiently absorbed. (CM)