December 29, 2021 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 29.12.2021, 19:44

COVID-19
ROMANIA – The Romanian health minister, Alexandru Rafila, announced on
Wednesday that the duration of quarantine and isolation for people suffering
from Covid-19 will be reduced from 14 to 10 days, as in most European Union
countries. The Romanian official said over 25,000 beds have been allotted to
COVID patients in hospitals across Romania, accounting for 20% of the total
number of beds, with the possibility of increasing this capacity to 30%. In
turn, Adriana Pistol, the head of the National Center for the Monitoring and
Control of Communicable Diseases, urged people to get vaccinated in the context
of a future pandemic wave caused by the Omicron strain. 1,271 new cases of
SARS-CoV-2 infections have been reported in 24 hours in Romania, out of over 42
thousand tests, as well as 35 related deaths, two of which were from the
previous day, the Strategic Communication Group announced on Wednesday. The
country has the second lowest vaccination rate among the 27 EU members, after
Bulgaria. Less than 7.9 million Romanians have been fully vaccinated, that is a
little over 40% of the eligible population. About two million of them have also
had the booster shot.

COVID-19
WORLD – The simultaneous circulation of the Delta and Omicron variants of
the coronavirus is creating a tsunami of cases, World Health
Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press
briefing on Wednesday in Geneva. The Omicron strain is spreading rapidly in
many countries, but the number of hospitalized patients remains low for the
time being. The UK on Tuesday recorded nearly 130,000 new cases of COVID-19,
which is a new record, and 18 Covid-related deaths. An absolute record since
the beginning of the pandemic has also been registered in Portugal – 17,000 new
infections in the last 24 hours, in a country with the highest vaccination rate
in the world, after the United Arab Emirates. Of Portugal’s population of 10
million people, almost a quarter has received booster doses, and the
restrictions imposed are getting tougher and tougher. Switzerland reported
13,000 new cases on Wednesday, and 40 people vaccinated with three doses are
hospitalized. The solution put forward by the Swiss authorities is to simply
avoid meetings with other people. In the Netherlands, too, the Omicron variant
is now dominant, but the infection rate remains on a downward trend for the
time being due to a tough lockdown. Italy has recorded an absolute record of
over 78,000 new cases of COVID-19 in one day, the highest since the onset of
the pandemic. In Turkey, too, the number of new infections has risen to more
than 30,000, the highest since mid-October. The Turkish authorities insist on
the need for vaccination. On Wednesday, Poland reported 794 COVID-19 related
deaths, the highest daily number in the 4th pandemic wave.

MOLDOVA – The Government of the
Republic of Moldova has ratified the Agreement with the Government of Romania
on the mutual recognition of scientific titles. Under the new agreement, all
diplomas attesting the completion of an academic cycle spanning 10 or 11 years
will be recognized and validated. The five-year agreement between Chişinău and Bucharest will facilitate procedures aimed at
recognizing scientific titles, will boost the quality of studies and will advocate
academic and vocational mobility.

(LS &VP)