A roundup of local and international news.
Covid-19. Romania is on a downward trend in terms of number of infections with the novel coronavirus, with less than 5 thousand confirmed cases on Friday. At 1,496, however, the number of patients in intensive care is still high. 134 new deaths were also recorded on Friday. On Thursday, the government extended the state of alert in Romania by a further 30 days but announced restrictions will be eased for the upcoming Orthodox Easter so that people can attend the Easter service in church. Some restrictions are also eased for Muslims during the Ramadan. So far, over 2.2 million people have been given at least one shot of the Covid vaccine in Romania.
Update. The National Committee for Emergency Situations has updated the list of states and territories with high epidemiological risk. Travellers arriving from these countries are required to enter a 14-day quarantine. 44 states are on the list, including France, the Netherlands, Hungary, Moldova, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Turkey. Quarantine is not required for arrivals from Greece, the UK and Germany. The decision takes effect from 13 April.
Philip. "Romania stands with the Royal Family and the British people in this time of sorrow", tweeted Romanian president Klaus Iohannis after hearing about the passing of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of Queen Elizabeth. The Royal family of Romania conveyed their "unspeakable sadness" at the news and recalled in a Facebook post that Prince Philip and King Michael, who were born on the same year, were cousins and maintained a lifelong friendship. "All generations in the Romanian and British Royal Families have been close, but for today's generation, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip remain as spiritual models, fundamental sources of inspiration," the post also reads. Prince Philip died aged 99, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday. The death came three weeks after the prince was released from hospital, where he had been treated for a month for an infection and then a heart problem. He was with Queen Elizabeth in some of the most challenging moments of her 69-year long reign, the longest in British history. Born in 1921 in Corfu, in Greece, Philip was also Prince of Greece and Denmark. He became a British citizen in 1947 and gave up his claim on the Greek and Danish thrones. He married the future Queen Elizabeth on 20th November 1947 at Westminster Abbey. He served in the Royal Navy until Elizabeth became queen, in 1952. From then on, he accompanied her on her official and public duties and was also involved in many charitable causes.
Aid. Romania sent 310,000 protective masks to Serbia, to help the authorities in this neighbouring country cope with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The masks are part of a strategic medical equipment reserve set up at EU level in the context of the sanitary crisis. This reserve is hosted by a number of European countries, Romania included. The medical equipment was purchased by Romania based on a 10-million euro loan signed with the European Commission. A convoy of the Arad Inspectorate for Emergencies is ensuring the transport, whose cost will be entirely covered by the Commission through the EU's Civil Protection Mechanism.
Corruption. The National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) has requested the Senate to green light the prosecution of the Social Democratic senator Florian Bodog. The request is now in the Senate's Legal Committee, which has until Monday to make a preliminary assessment of the document. According to anti-corruption prosecutors, during his tenure as minister, Bodog arranged for a person employed as a personal advisor to receive her salary rights for a period of 12 months without actually going to work and without performing the activities required by the job.
Deficit. Romania recorded a trade deficit of 3 billion euros in the first two months of the year, up 455.9 million euros as against the same period of 2020, according to the National Statistics Institute (NSI). Between January 1 and February 28, 2021, exports accounted for almost 11.2 billion euros, while imports stood at 14.2 billion euros. Exports went down by 3.7% while imports went up by 0.2% compared with the same period last year. (CM)
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