July 11, 2021 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 11.07.2021, 19:00

Pandemic Romania. Romania recorded today 26 new Covid cases from
18,000 tests and one new death, while 56 Covid patients are still in intensive
care. The Romanian government extended the state of alert nationwide for a
further 30 days from 12th July. The coordinator of the mass
vaccination campaign, dr. Valeriu
Gheorghiţă warned that Romania may see an increase in the number of new Covid
cases from the middle of next month driven by the spread of the Delta variant.
More than 4.8 million people have received the Covid jab in Romania since the
start of the vaccine roll-out in late December, with more than 4.6 million
being fully vaccinated.

Pandemic world.
Great Britain recorded over 32,000 new Covid cases on Saturday, while Italy hit
1,400 new daily cases. Russia also reported 25,000 new cases and 750 fatalities,
the highest death toll since the start of the pandemic. The Netherlands decided to toughen
measures to contain the spread of the virus as the number of daily cases grew
14 times compared with last week, from 500 to 7,000 cases. All night clubs,
bars and night-time music events are banned for the next five weeks. In Paris,
the government is looking for ways to step up vaccination amid fears of the
spread of the Delta variant, which is creating problems in neighbouring
countries. Unvaccinated travellers to Great Britain from France are asked to self-isolate
for seven days, just like those arriving from countries in Asia and Latin
America. Worldwide, Covid cases passed 187 million, while at least 4 million
people have died, according to wordlmeters.info.
The US, India and Brazil have the highest death tolls.

EU. Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu is attending on Monday in Brussels a
meeting of EU foreign ministers focusing on the geopolitical aspects of the new
digital technologies, the EU’s Strategic Compass, a reflection process aiming
to define the EU’s role as a relevant player in the area of security and
defence, the situation in Ethiopia and the recent developments in Afghanistan
and Lebanon. According to a statement from the Romanian foreign ministry,
Aurescu is also expected to present the results and conclusions of a recent
South Caucasus tour undertaken together with his counterparts from Austria and
Lithuania.

Tourism. Over
100,000 people visited the Romanian Black Sea coast this weekend. Following an
easing of Covid restrictions and lower new cases, many Romanians are choosing
local destinations for their seaside holidays. The most popular resorts are
Mamaia, Costinești and Vama Veche. According
to the Federation of Employers in Romanian Tourism, the average occupancy rate
this weekend in classified accommodation facilities is 75%. Despite an expected
rise in prices as the peak of the tourist season is nearing, the number of
tourists is expected to grow.

Cannes Festival. A number of
Romanian productions are in competition in the 74th edition of the
Cannes Festival, which is taking place between 6th and 17th
July. Andreea
Cristina Borțun’s short film When Night Meets Dawn and Radu Muntean’s
Intregalde are shown in the Directors’ Fortnight section dedicated to new
voices; Carina Dașoveanu’s Love Stories on the Move is shown in the Cinéfondation
section founded in 1998 and aimed at supporting young directors and producers;
and a collection of ten Romanian short films and ten feature films is screened in
the Critics’ Week section, whose president this year is Romanian film maker
Cristian Mungiu, a former winner of the Cannes trophy.

Tennis. Romanian tennis player Elena Gabriela Ruse
won her first WTA title on Sunday, in Hamburg, when she defeated Germany’s Andrea
Petkovic in the final in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4. In the semis, Ruse defeated
first seed Dayana Yastremska of
Ukraine. (CM)