A roundup of domestic and international news
INVESTIGATION. Another patient, who had been transferred to a different pavilion of the Matei Balş Institute following Friday's fire, has died. The announcement was made by the Ministry of Health, which has also mentioned that the patient was suffering from a severe form of Covid-19 and had many underlying conditions. A team of prosecutors, forensic police and specialists continues field investigations in the case of the fire that broke out on Friday at a pavilion of the Matei Balş Institute in Bucharest, where COVID-19 patients were treated in intensive care. According to some judicial sources, quoted by Agerpres, at the Homicide Service of the Bucharest Police Department, the hearings of witnesses will be resumed, including medical staff, but also relatives of the eight victims. Investigators are also conducting checks on fire protection, electrical maintenance and hospital security services. In this case, the prosecutor's office started an in rem action, for manslaughter.
VACCINE. A new tranche of COVID-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer-BioNTech, the largest so far, has arrived in Romania today. The delivery schedule is much delayed, as in all European countries, but the manufacturing company has given assurances that, from the middle of this month, the number of delivered doses will increase. Authorities in Bucharest have also announced that the administration of the Moderna vaccine starts today. So far, more than 670 thousand people have been vaccinated in Romania. The number of infections with the new coronavirus has exceeded 730,000. Most of the patients have been cured, but some 18,400 have died. About 1000 patients are hospitalized in intensive care units. Abroad, some 8 thousand Romanians have been infected and 151 have died of Covid-19.
PARLIAMENT. Romanian senators and deputies, elected in December, start today the first session of the new Legislature. The priority is the adoption of the State Budget Law for this year. The representatives of the governing coalition formed by the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union - PLUS Alliance and the Union of Democratic Hungarians in Romania want to initiate large-scale reforms in the field of salaries, pensions, education and health. In turn, opposition parties have announced that they will promote the initiatives they talked about during the election campaign and that they will bring more amendments to the Government's bills.
PROTEST. In Bucharest, members of the SANITAS Federation are protesting today in front of the Government headquarters, to demand respect for the rights of employees in the health-care system. The union accuses the authorities of indifference and says it is protesting for those who have been fighting the virus that caused the pandemic for more than 12 months and for the rights of colleagues in vaccination and social assistance centers. Sanitas demands compliance with the salary increases planned for 2021, fixing inequities affecting the categories of employees with the lowest incomes in the system, reporting increases to the basic salary paid for all employees in the health system and providing the risk incentive for social workers.
INCOMES. Most Romanians do not expect their incomes to grow in 2021. According to an IRSOP survey, 54% of respondents say their earnings will be similar to last year, 17% lower and 27% think their earnings will be bigger. Almost two thirds of Romanians believe that prices will rise a lot this year, and 30 percent anticipate a slightly more moderate increase. Despite the health crisis, last year, 33% of those surveyed managed to save money, and in 2021, almost half say they intend to put money aside. The IRSOP survey, funded from its own funds, was conducted over January 18 to 28 on a representative sample and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5%.
RUSSIA. The High Representative of the European Union Josep Borrell has deplored the massive arrests during Sunday's protests against President Vladimir Putin and for the release of his main opponent, Alexei Navalny, as well as what he called the disproportionate use of force against protesters and journalists. Borell's reaction comes shortly before his visit to Moscow on February 4-6 to ask for Navalny's release and to discuss means of normalizing relations between Russia and the European Union. The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also condemned Moscow's crackdown on anti-government protesters. In response, the Russian MFA accused the United States of blatant interference in its internal affairs. It was the second round of protests since Navalny was detained upon his return from Germany, where he was treated after an alleged poisoning that he blames on President Vladimir Putin and the Russian security services.
TENNIS. The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, world number two, has qualified for the eight finals of the Gippsland Trophy tournament in Melbourne, with 55,000 $ in prize money. Halep has won her first match of 2021 against the Russian Anastasia Potapova, 6-4, 6-4. Next, Halep will play against the winner of the match between the Australian Destanee Aiava and Laura Siegemund of Germany. On Tuesday, the other Romanian in the competition, Irina Begu, will play in the second round against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus. (M. Ignatescu)
Useful Links
Copyright © . All rights reserved