March 7, 2020

COVID-19 Romania has so far confirmed 9 infections with COVID-19, the Group of Strategic Communication in Bucharest has announced. Three of the people infected have been declared cured and have left hospitals but the other 6 people are still being treated in medical centers in Timisoara, western Romania, Cluj Napoca, in the north-west, Iasi, in the east, and Craiova, in southern Romania. 16 people have been quarantined and other 13 thousand are isolated at home. Almost 6 thousand infections with the new coronavirus have been reported in Europe, most of the cases in Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. China, the country where the virus was first discovered in December, has reported 28 new cases but no infection has been discovered in the Hubei province, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, for the second day in a row. WHO has reiterated its appeal that all the countries should make containment of the coronavirus outbreak their top priority. The virus has so far made it to 97 countries infecting over 100 thousand people. 

GOVERNMENT The Romanian Parliament will next week set a date for the investiture vote for the cabinet led by Prime Minister Designate Florin Catu. A joint session could be scheduled next Friday at the latest. 16 proposed ministers have been interviewed this week and nine of them got endorsement. The Catu cabinet has to muster 233 votes for Parliament support. We recall the first Liberal government, led by Ludovic Orban (leader of the National Liberal Party) has been sacked through a no-confidence vote. Orban's second appointment was contested at the Constitutional Court by his Social Democratic opponents and the court, which took into consideration the declared intentions of the Liberals and the president to trigger snap elections and not to get a Parliament majority for the investiture vote, eventually ruled against Orban's second appointment. 

MIGRATION Turkey is repatriating the Syrian migrants at the border with Greece after a ceasefire for the Syrian province of Idlib was signed by the Turkish and Russian presidents, Recep Erdogan and Vladimir Putin respectively. Authorities in Ankara have already informed the migrants that the EU border has been closed down and that buses have been made available to take them to Istanbul and from there back to Syria. However the Greek border forces remain on high alert after Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu on Friday announced Ankara's intention to deploy 1,000 policemen along the Evros River at the border with Greece in order to prevent Athens from rejecting the migrants attempting to cross it. Romania's interim Interior Minister Marcel Vela has informed the Greek authorities that Romania will increase the number of border police and their equipment in Greece. So, besides the 21 border police already stationed in Greece, Romania decided to add 8 more for the ground monitoring as well as a patrol ship with 24 crew members and two experts as part of the operational assistance plan for Greece, carried out under the aegis of the European Asylum Support Office.

TENNIS According to the WTA webpage, the world's no. 2 tennis player Simona Halep of Romania has withdrawn from the Indian Wells tennis tournament due to begin in California next week to recover from injuries. In 2015 Halep won her first Premier Mandatory title in Indian Wells after a finals win against Jelena Jankovic of Serbia. Last year's finalist Angelique Kerber of Germany has also announced her intention not to participate for the same reason. This year's edition of the prestigious sporting event will bring together 73 of the world's best 80 players. 

(translated by bill)