August 20, 2020
A round of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 20.08.2020, 13:55
Corona Ro — So far 73,600 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Romania and more than 33,500 patients have recovered. The Strategic Communication Group has announced that 480 people are in ICUs. The total death toll stands at 3,106. The first case of SARS-Cov2 infection on Romania’s territory was announced on February 26.
Motion — The motion of no confidence tabled by the opposition Social Democratic Party PSD against the Liberal government in Bucharest was read Thursday in Parliament, in the joint extraordinary session of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. PSD criticizes the executive for the way in which it managed the crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, for the public purchases made during the state of emergency and claims that the population’s living standards have collapsed. Debates on the motion are to take place 3 days at the most after its reading. As to the vote on the motion, PSD wants it to take place as soon as possible, with the date being established by the permanent bureaus of the Parliament’s two chambers. The Liberals criticize the PSD’s decision to table a motion of no confidence during an extraordinary meeting of Parliament. In turn, President Klaus Iohannis criticizes the Social Democrats’ move, saying that the censure motion is inopportune. He has also said that the Social Democrats are unable to come up with a solution for Romania.
Corona world — Over 22.5 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported around the world so far, with almost 800 thousand people having been killed by the virus, shows worldometers.info. More than half of the cases were reported in the US and Latin America. The worst situation in Asia is reported in India with almost 2.8 million cases of contamination. New coronavirus outbreaks have been reported in South Korea, one of the countries that have so far best managed the pandemic. In Europe, France reported the biggest number of new cases after the period of quarantine — 3,776 and Norway decided to impose 10-day quarantine for those who arrive to the country from Great Britain, Austria, Greece and Ireland.
MAE — The Romanian Foreign Ministry MAE recommends the Romanian citizens to consider the opportunity of travelling abroad in the context of the new coronavirus pandemic and to travel outside the country only if strictly necessary. MAE recalls that one of the measures taken by the Romanian authorities is the setting up and periodical updating of a list of countries with a high epidemiological risk. People coming from those countries have to self-isolate for 14 days. Also MAE recommends the Romanian citizens who are abroad to keep contact with the airlines and tour operators with a view to identifying alternatives to return home, if necessary.
Football — Romania’s football champions CFR Cluj (northwest) have qualified to the second preliminary round of the Champions League after defeating Floriana FC 2-0 on Wednesday evening in Malta in the first preliminary round of the competition. CFR Cluj will take on Croatia’s champions Dinamo Zagreb next week as part of the second preliminary round. Playing in the preliminaries of the Europa League are FCSB Bucharest, CSU Craiova and FC Botosani. (tr. L. Simion)
