February 8, 2021
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 08.02.2021, 13:55
FIRE — Another patient has died following the fire at the Matei Bals hospital in Bucharest on the 29th of January, bringing the death toll to 15. The cause of the fire seems to have been an electrical short circuit that set on fire three oxygen lines. Several wards have been completely destroyed and the whole building was affected by smoke. The Bucharest Tribunal announced on Friday that investigations at the site ended. The procedure of identifying the corpses has also been completed. As many as 33 people have been heard so far in relation with the fire. A similar tragedy took place in November at the emergency hospital in Piatra Neamt, where ten patients died.
SCHOOLS – More than 2.4 million pupils out of Romanias almost 3 million resume in-person classes as of today, when the second semester starts. Pupils and teachers will be wearing face masks in classroom at all times and children have to sit within at least 1 meter of each other. Education minister, Sorin Cîmpeanu, on Saturday told a TV station that education during the pandemic has been of low quality, largely because of on-line teaching, but also because of poor access to technology in some places, especially in rural areas. The minister went on to say that there are big gaps between different schools and children and that it will be difficult to catch up with all the learning lost. He added that his ministry will closely monitor the catch-up scheme, which benefits from 30 million euros worth of funding.
BUDGET – The 2021 state budget will be on Parliament’s agenda this week. According to the Government, the budget is based on a deficit of around 7% of GDP and aims to boost economic recovery and put an end to excessive and unjustified public spending. Liberal Prime minister Florin Cîţu said the budget also takes into account restructuring loss-making state companies, which will be denied funding unless they carry out reforms. The government plans to cut bonuses in state-owned companies, which amount to 120 million euros. The prime minister said that while staff expenses have doubled in the last four years, public administration has not become more efficient. The Social Democratic Party in opposition has come up with its own budget bill, saying its goals are healthcare, education, economic recovery and raising peoples living standards.
VACCINE – The eight batch of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has not been been delivered to Romania today, as scheduled, because the flight has been cancelled due to the bad weather in Germany. Those almost 164 thousand doses will be delivered on Tuesday, by plane. The vaccination campaign continues in Romania. Another batch of vaccines is to be received by Romania in one week. Pfizer has announced the number of doses delivered will be increased around the 15th of February. As the new batches are transported to the country, the online vaccine registration platform is updated and allows for online scheduling for vaccination, which is currently blocked. Romania now has all three types of vaccine approved for use in the EU, being one of the leading countries in the process of immunizing the population. Since the start of the vaccination in Romania, around 2,500 mild side effects have been reported. Almost 2 thousand new infections with coronavirus were reported in Romania on Sunday, out of 15,500 tests. 72 people have died and almost one thousand are in intensive care.
AUTO – French car maker Renault announced it would suspend production this week at several factories due to a worldwide shortage of semiconductors. The temporary shutdown will affect factories in France, Romania and Morocco, which will be closed for two or three days. The shortage of chips, which has also affected other car makers such as Fiat, Opel, Chrysler, Citroen, Ford, Toyota and Volkswagen, was generated by increasing demand for chips from laptop and mobile phone manufacturers. The situation faced by the Renault-owned Dacia factory in Mioveni, which affects some 8,000 employees, has been discussed by the factory management with the Romanian labour minister Raluca Turcan. The latter said she would ask Parliament to amend the law allowing businesses in difficult situations to benefit from subsidy to pay their employees. The labour ministry will propose changes to the work schedule when justified, with reduction in working hours of up to 80% if necessary.
TENNIS – World no. 2 Simona Halep has today defeated Australias Lizette Cabrera in the first round of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year. Halep, who is second seed in the competition, will be up next against another Australian, Ajla Tomljanovic( no. 69 WTA). Also today, Sorana Cîrstea beat Patricia Tig in an all-Romanian match while Irina Begu was defeated by Serbias Nina Stojanovic. Mihaela Buzarnescu (WTA 138) has lost today to a Romanian-born Canadian, Bianca Andreescu (WTA 8). (EE)
