April 20, 2020 UPDATE

Romania is not yet considering a lifting of coronavirus containment measures

Newsroom, 20.04.2020, 20:00

EASTER In Romania, Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians are marking Easter Week or Bright Week, with believers greeting each other with “Christ Is Risen! on Monday, the second day of Easter, the same religious service was performed in churches as the one on Easter night. Believers can only attend Mass online, as their presence in churches is restricted over the COVID-19 pandemic. In a Facebook post, the Interior Minister Marcel Vela thanked all those who complied with the restrictions, writing that “Your proof of respect and patriotism for our work these days has been truly impressive! Minister Vela said on Tuesday he will announce a special action aimed at preserving a constant dialogue with citizens. On the other hand, hundreds of people have been fined by police over the past 2 days, for breaking the measures introduced by authorities to contain the virus. In some cases, violent clashes were reported, with police resorting to their weapons in order to end the scuffles.

COVID-19 TIn Romania, authorities are not yet considering a lifting of coronavirus containment measures, given that these measures are still necessary at this point. The Strategic Communication Group says discussions about a gradual lifting of restrictions will take into account actual epidemiologic data, the need to prevent the risk of a second wave of infections, the recommendations of the European Commission and coordination with other EU member states. The coronavirus pandemic has killed around 470 people in Romania so far, out of a total of nearly 9,000 cases, 190 of them confirmed in the last 24 hours. Over 2,000 people have recovered. As many as 60 Romanian nationals living abroad died since the pandemic started, out of 730 that tested positive for the COVID-19, most of them in Italy and Spain.

AID Romania will receive 800,000 USD in medical assistance from the US, in addition to the US-financed transport operation that brought protection equipment to the country, the US Embassy to Bucharest announced in a news release. Ambassador Adrian Zuckerman emphasised the close relations between the 2 countries and voiced confidence that, thanks to the cooperation between the 2 partner countries, the challenges of this period will be successfully overcome. The announcement comes shortly after an Easter message sent by the American Ambassador in Romanian on the occasion of the Orthodox Easter.

PANDEMIC There are over 2.4 million confirmed COVID-19 cases around the world, according to data centralised by the Johns Hopkins University in the US. More than 165,000 people died, and nearly 630,000 recovered. The US continues to report the highest numbers of cases and deaths, and in Europe the worst hit countries are Italy, Spain, France and the UK. Italy already sees a 6th week of lockdown. According to Radio Romanias correspondent in Rome, people will only be allowed to leave their homes in 14 days, if the daily number of new cases drops. In Spain, the number of COVID-19 deaths dropped on Monday below 400 in 24 hours, for the first time since the WHO declared the pandemic, on March 11. Madrid intends to extend the existing restrictions until May 15, but in light of the recent positive signals some measures may be lifted sooner. In Belgium, the corona crisis seems to be over, authorities announced on Monday, saying that the number of new cases is the lowest of the past month. Belgiums Security Council convenes on Friday to discuss the easing of restrictions as of May 4. On Monday Germany reopened a number of small-sized shops, but Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that it is much too soon to discuss further lifting of restrictions. Last week Germany announced that the number of new cases is falling and that the epidemic is under control.

OIL US oil prices dropped by around 20% on Monday, to less than 15 USD, the lowest level since March 1999, as the Covid-19 pandemic deepened uncertainties in the global market and cut the demand for fuel, while onshore storage capacities in Europe are maxing out. In its report for April, the International Energy Agency estimated that the global oil demand might fall in 2020 by a record 9.3 million barrels a day, as the pandemic paralyses the worlds economy.

STATISTICS The EU reported a 22.4 billion euro surplus in trade, as against 16.4 billion euros in the corresponding period of 2019, according to preliminary data made public on Monday by the European Statistics Institute, Eurostat. As for Romania, data shows that in January – February 2020, exports rose by 2%, to 11.6 billion euro, while imports went up 3%, to 14.2 billion euro, resulting in a 2.6 billion euro deficit in the first 2 months of the year compared to 2.5 billion euro in the corresponding period of 2019.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)