April 2, 2020 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Eugen Coroianu, 02.04.2020, 20:08
COVID-19 — Over 2,738 cases of infection with the novel coronavirus have so far been confirmed in Romania. Of the total people infected, 107 have died and 267 have recovered. Also, 217 Romanians abroad have tested positive to the virus and 25 have died. Suceava, a city with over 100,000 inhabitants in northeastern Romania, was closed down on Tuesday, March 31st, due to the high number of Covid-19 infection cases recorded there. A military doctor has been appointed manager of the Emergency Hospital in the city, where a high number of infections was reported. President Klaus Iohannis has said the hospital must become operational again as soon as possible, after disinfection, and the medical staff must be provided with the protection equipment they need. The head of state urged doctors in Suveava to return to work, because they are needed. On Thursday, local authorities in the county of Ialomita, in south-eastern Romania, requested the lockdown of the town of Tandarei. As many as 4 deaths have been reported in one of the town’s neighborhoods and locals fail to comply with the social isolation measures.
EP — On Thursday, April 2nd, on International Fact-checking Day, the European Parliament contributed to raising awareness of the dangers of disinformation, not only for citizens’ health, but also for democracy. Whereas many battle day and night to save lives from the coronavirus, health organisations and fact-checkers have uncovered another dark side of the pandemic – organisations and individuals exploiting the crisis for political or commercial manipulation, instead of supporting those saving lives. EU institutions have repeatedly warned of the risks linked to disinformation attempts and scams. To support factual and reliable information, a joint EU page has been set up about Europe’s response to the virus. It also busts the most common myths related to the Covid-19 outbreak. According to a report by the European External Action Service anti-disinformation taskforce EUvsDisinfo, some false claims come from actors close to the US “alt” right, to China and to Russia. In these cases, the aim is political, to undermine the European Union or to create political shifts.
ECONOMY – The car industry wants to help the national economy and contribute to the production of medical equipment, such as masks, protection gear and biocides, Economy Minister Virgil Popescu said. The Romanian official went on to say that representatives of the automobile industry will take part in a national project aimed at building ventilators for the COVID-19 critical patients. Popescu also said that representatives of the Dacia carmaker are working on a scenario to resume production towards the second half of April. Due to the pandemic Dacia has suspended its activity at the power plant in Mioveni until April 5, with over 13,500 workers becoming technically unemployed.
WARNINGS – In the next few days we will reach 1 million confirmed cases and 50,000 deaths worldwide, the World Health Organization president, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said. The WHO official voiced deep concern about the rapid escalation in the cases of the new coronavirus, which has reached 205 countries and territories. “Over the past five weeks, we have witnessed a near exponential growth in the number of new cases, reaching almost every country. The number of deaths has more than doubled in the past week”, Ghebreyesus said. In another development, experts with the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization have warned against food shortage risks on global markets due to disruptions in the supply and production chain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. International institutions express concern over the slowdown in the circulation of workers in the farm and food industries, which is blocking agricultural works in numerous Western countries and causing border crossing delays in the transport of products, which in turn leads to a waste of perishable foodstuffs. Experts have also highlighted the need to protect workers in the agri-food sector and those in the distribution chain, so as to minimize the spread of the virus and keep supply chains open.
EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS – Over 1 million employment contracts have been suspended in Romania starting April 1, the Labor Ministry announced on Thursday. The manufacturing industry, trade, car services, the hospitability sector and restaurants have reported most such cases. The authorities recall that as of Wednesday people can apply for technical unemployment benefits. (EE)
