January 11, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 11.01.2022, 19:50

COVID-19. Over
8,800 new Covid infections were reported on Tuesday in Romania, double the
previous day, as well as 43 related fatalities. 415 patients are in intensive
care. The case incidence is on the rise in several places, including the
capital Bucharest, which is nearing 3 per 1,000 inhabitants. Since the start of
the vaccine roll-out in late December 2020, nearly 7.9 million people have got
the Covid vaccine. Facilities are being identified around the country to host
the outpatient evaluation centres scheduled to become operational this week.
Experts have warned that it is important for people to respond to the first
signs of infection and to take immediate measures at home.

Sassoli.
President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday sent a letter of condolence over the
death of the president of the European Parliament David Sassoli, saying the
latter had been a good friend of Romania and a leader who fought for European
values and principles. The Italian Social-Democrat David Sassoli passed away on
Monday night in the Italian town of Aviano, where he was hospitalised on
December 26 following severe complications related to his immune system.
Sassoli, a former journalist, was appointed president of the European
Parliament in July 2019. He was at the end of his term, and next Tuesday the European
Parliament is due to vote for his successor. It is for the first time in the
history of the European Parliament that a president died while in office. First
vice-president Roberta Metsola, a conservative from Malta who was already set
to be elected as Sassoli’s successor next week, will be acting as interim.

US-Russia. The
United States and Russia have agreed to continue the dialogue, which, according
to European media may be the only gain of the 8-hour long talks held in Geneva,
Switzerland on Monday. The head of the US delegation, deputy secretary of state
Wendy Sherman, pushed back on Russia’s request for guarantees that NATO would
not expand further east. We will not allow anyone to slam closed NATO’s open
door policy, which has always been central to the NATO Alliance. And we will
not make decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine, about Europe without Europe,
or about NATO without NATO, Sherman said. The US diplomat reiterated at
the meeting with her Russian counterpart that invading Ukraine would entail
huge costs for Moscow. Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov once
again promised that Russia had no intention to invade Ukraine, but emphasised
that the risk of a conflict should not be underestimated. The talks in Geneva
will be followed this week by Russia-NATO talks in Brussels, and by an OSCE
meeting to discuss Ukraine, in Vienna.

Support. The Romanian government has prepared
new measures from 1st April to protect the population from the
effects of the rise in energy costs, said prime minister Nicolae Ciucă after meeting
members of his cabinet. He said the government is considering new support
schemes for small and medium-sized businesses. Private consumers using up to
300 kW/hour will benefit from a new protection scheme, with a 5% cut in VAT and
compensations for some costs. A support scheme for natural gas consumption is
also being considered. Agriculture and the food industry will benefit from some
support measures from 1st February, in place until 1st
July. The prime minister said these measures will be presented in the first
meeting of the ruling coalition.

Tennis. The
Romanian tennis player Gabriela Ruse Tuesday reached the round of last 16 of
the WTA 500 tournament in Sydney, with over 700,000 USD in prize money, after
defeating Poland’s Magdalena Frech in 3 sets. Ruse will next play against 4th
seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia. Another Romanian player, Jaqueline Cristian,
is also playing in the same round, where she will be facing 3rd seed Barbora
Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, the defending Roland Garros champion. (CM)