August 19, 2022 UPDATE

Budget - The government adopted the first budget rectification of 2022, a positive one, which takes into account an economic growth of 3.5%, the budget revenues for the first six months and the budget execution for this period. The Finance Minister, Adrian Caciu, claims that the budget deficit can be kept under control and that the target of 5.84% for the end of the year is achievable. The Fiscal Council, an independent body that analyzes the sustainability of fiscal and budgetary policies, warned that the rectification may lead to exceeding a deficit of 7% of the Gross Domestic Product, because the government allegedly overestimated the receipts and underestimated part of the expenses.

Covid - 4,854 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection have been registered in Romania in 24 hours, 631 less than the previous day, the Health Ministry announced on Friday. According to the source, most new cases of COVID are in Bucharest and in the counties of Cluj and Timiş. 3,450 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in specialized health units. 279 patients are treated in ICUs. In the last 24 hours, 21 deaths have been reported among patients with SARS-CoV-2.

Table tennis - The Romanian-Austrian pair Bernadette Szocs/Sofia Polcanova won the gold medals in the women's doubles, on Thursday evening, at the European Table Tennis Championships in Munich (Germany), after defeating the Romanian pair Elizabeta Samara/ Andrea Dragoman. Samara and Dragoman won the silver medals, while Adina Diaconu and Maria Xiao (Spain) won the bronze. Romania's medal record at the European Championships in Munich is completed by the silver medal won in the mixed doubles by Bernadette Szocs and Ovidiu Ionescu.

Marathon - 250 runners from ten countries have registered for the most difficult ultra-marathon in Romania, 2X2 Race, which will take place on Saturday, at Bâlea Lac, in the Făgăraş Mountains, at an altitude of over 2,000 meters, AGERPRES reports. The race is one of the most difficult mountain ultra-marathons in the world. The 2X2 Race takes place entirely at over 2,000 m, which makes it unique in Europe and one of the few in the world. This year, runners from Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Israel and Russia have entered the competition. The competitors will run on some of the most technical routes in the Carpathians, reaching the second highest peak in Romania, Negoiu (2,535 m). Such competitions take place on rugged terrain, from dirt paths through forests and alpine plains, to ridges and cliffs.

Fires - This year's fires affected 150,000 hectares in Romania, i.e. ten times more than the average for the period 2006 - 2021, the former head of the Environmental Guard Octavian Berceanu said on Friday. He drew attention, in a Facebook post, to the fact that the ash resulting from the fires risks affecting the inhabitants of the cities, given the lack of protective curtains and green belts of the localities. There have been 715 fires in Romania this year, in the context of a previous multi-year average of 49. The biggest number of fires this year (266 in one week) occurred at the end of March, when more than 61,000 hectares were affected. Romania, with 0.63% of the country's area affected by fires, ranks second in Europe, after Portugal (0.95%), and Spain and Croatia (0.56%).

France - The action that 77 Romanian firefighters carried out for a week in France has ended, the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU) announced on Friday. According to the cited source, the Romanian rescuers participated in firefighting missions in the southwest of France, in special meteorological conditions, the missions consisting in identifying and extinguishing hidden outbreaks, as well as in protecting nearby homes from possible other existing outbreaks. The aid that Romania granted to the French authorities was based on the request for international assistance made by the French government through the European Civil Protection Mechanism, General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations says. Some of the Romanian firefighters are returning to the country with an aircraft of the Defense Ministry, and the other rescuers, together with the intervention equipment will come back to Romania by land. (LS)