August 19, 2021

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 19.08.2021, 13:55

COVID-19 The
number of Covid-19 infections is on the rise in Romania, exceeding 500,
authorities in this country have announced. 541 new cases were reported on
Wednesday out of 35 thousand tests as well as six new fatalities. Capital city
Bucharest ranks first with the highest number of infections as well as the city
of Constanta in the country’s south-east. However, all the counties and the
capital are still in the so called green tier but the authorities believe
Romania will have 1000 thousand new cases at the end of August and 15 hundred
daily cases in September. Valeriu Gheorghita, the physician in charge of
Romania’s vaccine rollout out told a TV channel the authorities had forecast a
rising number of infections, including some severe cases, and the upward trend
is going to continue in the next month. According to Gheorghita, one out of two
Romanians has achieved a certain degree of immunity, either from being infected
or from vaccination. Over 5 million people have been immunized in Romania since
the beginning of its vaccine rollout, much under the figure initially envisaged
by the authorities.

AFGHANISTAN A Romanian citizen working for a NATO agency was flown back
to Romania from Afghanistan last night in a plane belonging to Romanian Air Forces,
the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest has announced. Unfortunately, the plane could
not evacuate the other Romanians in that country as they were unable to make it
to the airport. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, at the moment of
evacuation, 33 Romanian citizens were registered as being in Afghanistan. They
are working for NATO and the UN and for some security companies carrying
activities in that country. According to the same sources, a crisis cell is
working around the clock to help these citizens to reach the international
airport in Kabul in due time. The cell is permanently keeping in touch with the
Romanian citizens who are still located in Kabul. The Romanian president Klaus
Iohannis has summoned the country’s Higher Defence Council for talks next week over
the security situation in Afghanistan and its implications for Romania.

GOVERNMENT The
government in Bucharest is to convene today for talks over an emergency
ordinance on the selective waste collection. By passing this law, Bucharest is
going to avoid a series of EU sanctions for waste mismanagement. The ordinance
provides for the selective collection of paper, glass and plastic. The Romanian
executive is expected to pass another ordinance aimed at increasing the number
of employees working for the National Public Pension House. According to Radio
Romania correspondent, the institution needs more employees in order to
complete the process of pension calculation by September 1st.
Another government decision is concerning the setting up of a Committee for the
Management of Migration within the Interior Ministry, an institution in charge
of implementing the national strategy for migration.

TENNIS The
Romanian-German pair Horia Tecau/Kevin Krawietz has been defeated by Marcelo
Arevalo of El Salvador and Fabio Fognini of Italy in the round of 16 of the ATP
Masters 1,000 in Cincinnati, Ohio, a tennis competition with 4.8 million
dollars in prize money. In the singles contest, Romanian Simona Halep has
withdrawn before the game against Jessica Pegula of the USA due to a muscle
strain. We recall that Halep missed the tournaments in Roland Garros and
Wimbledon as well as the Olympics due to a muscle strain in her left calf she
got while playing in Rome in May. The Romanian player went down to the 13th
position in the WTA ranking. (DB)