August 25, 2020
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 25.08.2020, 13:55
CORONAVIRUS — Over 79,000 people have tested positive to Covid-19 in Romania so far, the Strategic Communicatiohn Group has announced. Another 37 people infected with the novel coronavirus have died and the total number of deaths in the country has reached 3,309. Some 494 patients are in intensive care. On the Romanian territory, 10,742 people confirmed with the novel coronavirus are in isolation at home, and 5,433 are in institutionalized isolation. Also, 29,404 people are in quarantine at home, and 37 in institutionalized quarantine. PM Ludovic Orban has said the Government continues to make efforts to diminish the effects of the pandemic and that a slight decrease in the number of new cases has been reported.
BACCALAUREATE — The second session of this year’s Baccalaureate that started on Monday is under way in Romania. Over 42,700 high school graduates have enrolled for the exam, of whom 18,000 graduated in previous years. The compulsory subject matter exam is being held today. High school graduates from among national minorities will have the native language and literature exam on Thursday. Preliminary results will be made public on September 2nd and the final ones on September 5th.
ELECTION – Political parties and alliances are today submitting their lists of candidates to the Central Election Bureau. The candidates’ order on the ballot papers will be decided in two days, by drawing lots. The election campaign starts on Friday and ends on September 26 at 7 am, 24 hours before the voting begins. Local elections should have been held in June, but have been postponed due to the pandemic.
PANDEMIC – The health situation related to the COVID 19 pandemic shows no sign of improvement. Several countries have reported in recent days the highest daily figures since the spring wave, or even since the onset of the pandemic. The total number of Covid-19 infections has exceeded 23.8 million worldwide, 16 million of whom are cured patients. More than 810 thousand people have lost their lives. Some German schools partially reopened in the spring, but it is only now, after the summer break, that schools are fully reopening across the country. As for England and Northern Ireland, Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants schools fully open in September. In France schools will reopen next week and pupils aged 11 and over as well as teachers will have to wear face masks.
FOOTBALL – CFR Cluj will be playing Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb in a home match on Wednesday in the second round of the Champions League preliminaries. We remind you that the Romanians secured a 2-0 away win against Floriana in Malta and have thus qualified for the competitions second preliminary round. At the same time, Dinamo started the new football season with a clear 6-0 win against Lokomotiv Zagreb, the countrys second representative in the Champions League qualifiers.
WEATHER — Most of Romania is under a code orange alert for unsettled weather, valid until this evening. In the centre, north and nort-east and partially in the south thunderstorms are expected. Another 9 counties in the north-west and south-west are under a code yellow alert for heavy rain. Maximum temperatures range from 21 to 34 degrees C. The noon reading in Bucharest was 29 degrees. (Translated by E. Enache)
