January 6, 2022 UPDATE

Covid-19Ro. In the past 24 hours in Romania, the number of new cases of Covid-19 went up by 20% as compared to the previous day, exceeding 6000. 63 thousand tests were performed, which means an infection rate of over 9%, authorities announced on Thursday. The Strategic Communication Group also reported 44 related deaths. Approximately 8 million people have been fully vaccinated in Romania, which means a little over 40% of the eligible population.

Pandemic. The Romanian Government has adopted the decision regarding  the extension on the state of alert as of January 8, and the establishment of measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the amendments to the normative act, which is based on the measures proposed in the Decision of the National Committee for Emergency Situations (CNSU), refers to the wearing of surgical or FFP2 masks both indoors and outdoors. At the same time, the Executive maintains the CNSU proposal regarding the participation of persons in activities up to 50% of the maximum capacity of the space, in the counties / localities where the aggregate incidence rate over 14 days is less than or equal to 1 / 1,000 inhabitants. The participation of persons will be allowed within the limit of 30% of the maximum capacity of the space in the counties / localities where the rate is higher than 1 / 1,000 inhabitants.

Protest. Romanian Energy Minister Virgil Popescu on Thursday told the trade unionists from Alro Slatina (southern Romania), the largest aluminum producer in Central and Eastern Europe, that he will support the resumption of production. The minister's announcement came in response to the protest held by trade unionists in front of the Slatina Prefect's Office, following the management's decision to reduce the production capacity due to the energy crisis. Protesters say more than 1,000 employees are in danger of being furloughed. Protests were also held on Wednesday at the alumina plant in Tulcea (southeast) against the increase in energy prices. The unit has already started to reduce production, and people fear that they will lose their jobs. Meanwhile, at political level, the Social Democratic Party has announced that it will call on the ruling coalition it is part of to urgently amend the legislation and protect citizens from the sharp rise in electricity and gas prices.

Kazakhstan. The European Union on Thursday called on Moscow to respect Kazakhstan's sovereignty and independence as Russia sends paramilitaries to quell a riot following the bloody violence that has spread to the former Soviet republic. The European Commission has also made a call for restraint from all the parties involved. At the request of the authorities in Kazakhstan, Russia and other countries in the Collective Security Treaty Organization have begun sending peacekeepers to guard state institutions, military units and other important targets, and to assist the local security forces in stabilizing the situation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs that the staff of the Romanian Embassy in Nur-Sultan is safe, and the Romanian diplomatic mission in Kazakhstan is in contact with the approximately 100 Romanian citizens in this country, mainly specialists and experts employed by private companies.

Tennis. Simona Halep defeated Gabriela Ruse 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday, in the round of 16 of the Melbourne Summer Set 1 (WTA250) tournament, with some 240 thousand dollars in prize money. In the quarters, Halep will take on the Swiss Viktorija Golubic, who defeated Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove of the Netherlands. Also on Thursday, another Romanian, Irina Begu, qualified for the quarter finals of Melbourne Summer Set 2, where she will play against the American Amanda Anisimova, who defeated Sorana Cirstea. The tournaments are taking place in the run-up to the Australian Open, the first Gland Slam of the year, due between January 17-30.

Handball. Romania's men's national handball team is training for the preliminary qualifying tournament of the World Championship, on home turf in Cluj-Napoca (northwest). Between January 7-9, 2022, the Romanians will take on the national teams of Israel, Cyprus and the Republic of Moldova. Last week, Romania played, also in Cluj, two training matches with the Turkish national team, and won both of them. The friendly matches replaced in the program of the two teams a new edition of the traditional Carpathian Trophy, which was canceled, as several members of the Swiss and Iranian teams tested positive for Covid-19.  The coach of the Romanian team is the famous Spanish Xavi Pasqual, who won the Champions League with Barcelona three times. (MI)