September 17, 2020

Covid-19 RO. 1,679 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were registered in Romania, compared to the last report, following the tests performed at national level - the Strategic Communication Group announced this afternoon. The total number of infections has thus reached 108,690. Also today, another 27 people infected with the new coronavirus have died, the total number of deaths in Romania reaching 4,312. 460 patients are in intensive care, the Group has also reported. In Romania, 11,540 people confirmed with the new coronavirus are in isolation at home, and 5,807 are in institutional isolation. Also, 38,167 people are in quarantine at home, and 7 in institutionalized quarantine.

Pandemic. 30 million infections and 945,000 deaths have been reported worldwide, according to worldomters.info. The United States is the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, with more than 6,800,000 infections and more than 200,000 deaths. In the United Kingdom, the European country with the highest number of deaths, over 41,000, the health system can no longer cope with the demand for tests, and the government has announced that it will rationalize them for the time being. Spain has exceeded 600,000 cases and 30,000 deaths. As of Friday, Israel becomes the first country in the world to apply the lockdown measure for the second time, due to the very large number of new cases of COVID-19.

Elections. In Romania, the electoral campaign for the local elections due on September 27 continues, in conditions meant to prevent infections with the new coronavirus. According to the Ministry of Interior, wearing a protective mask is mandatory, and for all persons participating in electoral events or meetings, observational triage and mandatory hand disinfection will be performed. The rules of access and personal protection will be displayed in visible places. A physical distance of at least one meter between participants will be ensured, including for actions carried out on the street or from door to door. A maximum of 50 people will attend the events and meetings held indoors, and the duration will be limited to a maximum of two hours. In the case of events and meetings held outdoors, the organizers must ensure that the number of participants is limited to a maximum of one hundred. 41 county council presidents, about 3,200 mayors, over 1,300 county councilors and 40,000 local councilors will be elected. Election had been scheduled for June, but was postponed due to the pandemic, and local elected officials have extended their terms by half a year.

EP. The European Parliament has endorsed the need to introduce new sources of revenue into the EU budget, a crucial step in authorizing Brussels to borrow from the markets and to implement the € 750 billion recovery plan decided by the EU. The EP's advisory but necessary vote paves the way for a European Council decision and will allow ratification to begin in the 27 EU states, a process involving, depending on the country, a vote of national and/or regional parliaments. The aim of the Europeans is to complete this process of national ratifications by the end of the year, so that it enters into force, as scheduled, in January 2021.

Economy. The recovery of the world economy following the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic could take five years, the chief economist of the World Bank (WB), Carmen Reinhart has warned. She says that because of the crisis, inequalities between the poor and the rich, as well as those between states, will be exacerbated. For the first time in 20 years, global poverty rates will rise, the chief economist added. In 2015, the year of the latest World Bank data, about 734 million people worldwide lived in extreme poverty, accounting for 10% of the world's population, and their numbers have continued to rise since the pandemic broke out.

Agreement. The Romanian Government has concluded an agreement with a Chinese company for the construction of Units 3 and 4 of the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant, in southeastern Romania, the Minister of Ecoomy, Energy and Business Environement, Virgil Popescu, has announced. He has stated that parteners are now being sought for the project in the EU and NATO countries. The nuclear power plant in Cernavoda is the only one of its kind in Romania. Units 1 and 2 are currently operational, and together they produce about 20% of the country's electricity consumption, using the Canadian technology known as CANDU.

Contest. 13 young pianists out of the 55 contestants who participated in the first stage of the Piano Section of the George Enescu International Contest, the most prestigious cultural event organized by Romania, have qualified for the second stage. The 13 are from China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Great Britain, Poland, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Serbia. The first stage of the competition, the Piano Section, took place online between September 11-15. The second stage, eliminatory, will take place between September 17-19. The recordings will be available online on the website of the Contest www.festivalenescu.ro starting September 17, from 10.00 (Romanian time). It is for the first time in the history of the Enescu Contest when the first two stages of the sections are organized online, against the background of the pandemic. Access to all online content of the Contest during this period is free.

Football. The holder of the Romanian Football Cup, FCSB, meets, tonight, away from home,  FK TSC Backa Topola, from Serbia, in the second preliminary round of Europa League. If they qualify,  the Bucharest team will receive, in the third round, the visit of the winning team between Riteriai (Lithuania) and Liberec (Czech Republic). Also today, FC Botoşani (northeast of Romania) plays, at home, with KF Shkendija, from Northern Macedonia, and, if it wins, it will meet, also on home turf, most likely, the English team Tottenham Hotspur, the big favorite in the duel with the Bulgarians from Lokomotiv Plovdiv. Eliminated from the Champions League preliminaries, the Romanian champion, CFR Cluj (northwest), will play, this month, directly in the third round, with the winner between Djurgaarden (Sweden) and FC Europa (Gibraltar).

Tennis. Romanian tennis player Irina Begu, (77 WTA) is playing, today, in the second round of the WTA tournament in Rome, against the British Johanna Konta (13 WTA). Also today, in the doubles, the Romanians Simona Halep and Monica Niculescu will play, in the eighth finals, with the Japanese Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara. On Wednesday, the Romanian Simona Halep, world number 2, qualified for the eighth finals of the tournament in Rome, where she is first seed, winning with the score of 6-3, 6-4, the match against the Italian Jasmine Paolini. In the doubles, the pair formed by the Romanian Raluca Olaru and Anna-Lena Friedsam (Germany), qualified, on Wednesday, for the quarterfinals of the tournament in Rome, after defeating with 6-4, 6-3, the team Miyu Kato ( Japan) and Sabrina Santamari (USA). The tournament in Rome is part of the Premier 5 category and takes place without spectators, and the players must follow strict rules to prevent infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The prizes are worth a total of almost 1.7 million euros. ( M. Ignatescu)