April 18, 2021

A roundup of domestic and international news

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Newsroom, 18.04.2021, 14:00

VACCINATION – Some 2.6 million
people have taken at least one shot of anti-COVID-19 vaccine, of whom 1.5
million have taken both doses of the vaccine, the authorities in Bucharest have
announced. Some 300,000 people working in the medical field have taken the
COVID-19 vaccine, 90% of whom have taken both shots. The evolution of the
SARS-CoV-2 pandemic shows a significant drop in the weekly number of cases,
from 70/day before the start of the vaccination campaign, to a little under
20/day right now. Authorities say the data is indicative of the importance and
necessity of vaccination to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and recall that the
administration of one of the serums approved at EU level is free of charge and
voluntary. The Romanian Defense Ministry is preparing mobile vaccination
centers for immunizing people in rural or remote areas. 20 such centers will
become operational starting next week in areas organized by local authorities
or in medical containers, which will be provided by the National State Reserve Administration.
The capacity of vaccination flows at the level of the Defense Ministry is also
expected to increase.

MOLDOVA -
A new batch of 132,000 doses of the AstraZeneca serum were delivered to Moldova
on Sunday, as part of Romania’s assistance to Moldova in its efforts to combat
the COVID-19 pandemic. This new batch is the third of the total of 200,000
doses Romania pledged to donate to Moldova in December last year, following the
meeting of Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, and his Moldovan counterpart,
Maia Sandu. The first batch, totaling 21,600 doses, arrived in Moldova at the
end of February, while the second one, totaling 50,400 doses on March 27.
Romania’s ambassador in the Republic of Moldova, Daniel Ioniță, at the time
said Bucharest wants the doses to be delivered evenly across the republic,
irrespective of ethnicity, including in the Turkish-speaking Gagauzia in the
south and in the breakaway region of Transnistria in the east.

EXERCISE -
Some 15,000 military from Romania and allied and partner states will take part,
over May-June, in the Dacia 21 Livex exercise hosted by Romania. The exercise
is part of the joint training timetable, the Defense Ministry reports. The
first troops and equipment to arrive in Romania this week are 120 British
military and 55 vehicles. Dacia 21 Livex confirms Romania’s capacity to engage
in defensive operations, as well as the permanent availability of allied and
partner countries to swiftly deploy considerable forces to Romania with a view
to defending the country against any potential threat to its national security.
Additionally, Ministry officials say, Dacia 21 Livex will also probe Romanian
support to military forces and equipment transiting national territory.

TENNIS -
Romania lost 3-1 to Italy in the World Group playoff of the Billie Jean King
Cup, the former Fedcup. The match was the first with Monica Niculescu as team
captain, who’s replaced Florin Segărceanu. Simona Halep and Patricia
Ţig were unavailable for this match, both injured, while Italy’s number one
player, Camila Giorgi, was left out after testing positive for COVID-19. Next
year Romania will play in Group 1 in the Europe-Africa zone.

HANDBALL – The Romanian
women’s handball team on Saturday defeated North Macedonia 33-22 in the first round
of the 2021 World Cup playoffs. The return leg is scheduled for April 21 in
Skopje. Commentators say booking a place should not be a problem, given that
the number of participants grew to 32. The tournament will be hosted by Spain.
Europe has 50% of the available places. Romania is yet to miss a women’s World
Championship, where it has won four medals over the years: gold in 1962, silver
in 1973 and 2005 and bronze in 2015. (V.P.)