April 3, 2020
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 03.04.2020, 14:00
CORONAVIRUS IN
ROMANIA – The death toll of the COVID-19 virus in Romania has reached 116, the
Group for Strategic Communication has announced today. The latest victim is a
70-year-old man from Mures County with a history of cardio-vascular disease and
high blood pressure. There are 2,738 confirmed cases in Romania, of whom 267
have recovered, while over 15,400 people are in quarantine and some 115,000 in
isolation. The number of Romanians living or working abroad who have tested
positive for COVID-19 has reached 217, 126 in Spain, 57 in Italy, 14 in France,
7 in Germany and 4 in the UK. Since the onset of the outbreak 25 Romanians have
lost their lives abroad, of whom 9 in Italy alone.
FINES – Starting today
an emergency decree takes effect in Romania, introducing higher fines for
people that don’t observe emergency security measures. Minimum fines for
natural persons have increased from 20 to 415 euros while maximum fines from 1,035
to 4,150 euros. Fines for legal entities
that don’t comply with military decrees have increased from 205 to 2,050 euros,
up to a maximum of 14,500 euros. Moreover, additional sanctions have been
introduced for people who don’t abide by legal provisions, such as the seizure
of any goods that make the object of an offence, access denial to the said
goods by putting them under seal, temporary suspension of activity, the
shutdown of construction works and the re-establishment of certain design
works. The additional sanctions can be taken depending on the nature and
seriousness of the offence.
CORONAVIRUS IN THE
WORLD – Over a million people have tested positive for coronavirus in the
world, the global death toll standing at 54,000 people, a recent report shows.
A quarter of cases have been reported in the US, where the pandemic is
spreading swiftly. Italy is the country where most people have died, 14,000,
followed by Spain with 10,000 deaths, the US with some 6,000, France with over
5,000 and China with 3,300 dead. The World Bank has announced it would allocate
160 billion dollars over the next 15 months to help countries fight the
pandemic. The money will be used to protect the poor and the vulnerable and
will support the business sector and the economic recovery process.
NATO -
Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is today attending an informal video-conference
of NATO foreign ministers. The meeting will focus on the crisis caused by the
coronavirus pandemic, in the context of the latest developments at European and
global level. NATO ministers will discuss the possibility of coordinating at
consular level in order to continue to repatriate non-resident EU citizens, as
well as the strengthening of EU’s role in the field of international
cooperation and the provision of humanitarian aid, combating disinformation and
the importance of European solidarity. Yesterday, during a similar
video-conference, Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu underlined the important role
of emergency air missions aimed at ensuring the transport of medical equipment,
stating that Romania was the first allied state to make use of NATO strategic
air transport capabilities in order to bring the necessary equipment and
materials from South Korea.
COMMISSION
– The European Commission is intensifying its response capacity against
COVID-19, proposing the creation of a solidarity instrument worth 100 billion
euros called SURE, which will help workers maintain their incomes and will
support businesses. Loans will be handed out based on guarantees provided by
Member States and will be directed to the areas facing most difficulties.
Available to all Member States, SURE will support partial unemployment schemes
and similar measures in order to help Member States protect their jobs,
employees and people carrying out independent activities. The Commission is
also proposing the redistribution of all available structural funds for this
year in order to help meet the needs of European healthcare systems.
ELECTION
– The Liberal Government will most likely postponed the early elections slated
for June, as the coronavirus pandemic has made it impossible for such a
democratic process to be held in the best possible circumstances, Liberal Prime
Minister Ludovic Orban has said. A state of emergency was declared in Romania
on March 16 and quarantine measures have been in place since last week. The
early elections were scheduled for late June, while legislative elections were
due this November. The epidemic is expected to peak over April 20 – May 1, the
risk of spreading getting lower after this period, Orban went on to say. The
Romanian official will consult with the other parties regarding a date for the
early elections, based on the evolution of the pandemic. In another
development, Health Minister Nelu Tataru said movement restrictions could be
lifted in stages, starting mid-May.
(Translated by V. Palcu)
