August 24, 2021 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 24.08.2021, 20:09
COVID-19 Romania reported 782 new COVID-19
infections on Tuesday out of 40 thousand tests carried out in the past 24
hours. 14 of those infected have reportedly lost their lives whereas 205
patients are being treated in ICUs across the country. Bucharest’s prefect,
Alin Stoica, didn’t rule out the idea of introducing fresh restrictions in
Bucharest as the number of infections is on the rise. He recalled that the new
school year is due to begin in Romania during the fourth wave of the COVID-19
pandemic. In turn, the army physician in charge of Romania’s vaccine rollout
has confirmed that Romania is in the 4th wave of the pandemic and
the Delta variant is about to become dominant.
GAMES Japan’s Emperor
Naruhito formaly opened the Paralympic Games in Tokyo on Tuesday, 16 days after
the end of the Olympic Games. Tabita Vulturar and Alex Bologa have carried the
Romanian flag in the opening ceremony. Romania is being represented by 7
athletes including the country’s
Minister of Sports, Eduard Novak, who is going to attend the cycling
competitions. The other athletes are going to participate in judo, table
tennis, cycling, athletics and archery. More than 4 thousand athletes from 160
countries are participating in the aforementioned competition due to end on
September 5th. They are going to participate in no less than 22 sporting competitions.
CSAT Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has
summoned the country’s Higher Defence Council, which is to convene on Wednesday
for talks over the security situation in Afghanistan and its implications for
Romania. Over 45 Romanian nationals have been evacuated from that country since
the beginning of the crisis. Iohannis has recently announced that the
authorities in Bucharest will carry on the evacuation efforts in an attempt to also
evacuate the Afghan citizens who supported the Romanian troops in Afghanistan,
those who have been granted Romanian scholarships or those in vulnerable
situations. Romania has joined the other countries in their efforts to offer
assistance to those vulnerable as access to the international airport in Kabul
is becoming increasingly difficult.
AFGHANISTAN The Taliban on Tuesday announced they
would not allow the evacuations to continue after August 31st and
called on the United States to not encourage the Afghan people to leave the
country. The Americans are allowed to evacuate only the foreigners not the
qualified Afghan people, a Taliban spokesman told a news conference on Tuesday.
According to the same spokesman, the way to the airport has been closed now and
Afghans are not allowed to go there. Foreigners are allowed to go but Afghan
nationals have been stopped because the crowd is big and there is danger that
people will lose their lives in a stampede. According to Pentagon sources,
there has not been a change to the timeline of the mission of evacuating people
from Afghanistan.
(bill)
