August 30, 2020 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 30.08.2020, 19:08

COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – 952 new COVID infections have been reported
in Romania in the last 24 hours, the Group for Strategic Communication
announced on Sunday. 39 people have died, taking the death toll to 3.578. 7.213
people infected with SARS CoV-2 are now hospitalized, 492 people being in
intensive care. 9.132 people are in home isolation while 5.839 are in
institutionalized isolation. 32.955 are in home quarantine while 71 in
institutionalized quarantine. 6.589 Romanians living abroad have tested
positive for COVID-19, of whom 126 have died.

COVID-19 WORLDWIDE – The number of COVID infections has exceeded
25 million worldwide, the official death toll standing at some 840.000. Nearly
40% of the total number of cases have been reported in the United States, where
182.000 people have died, as well as in Brazil, the second-most affected
country, with over 120.000 deaths. This morning, India has confirmed the
biggest daily increase in the number of new infections, over 78.000. In Europe,
Hungary will shut down its borders starting September 1 to limit the spread of
the virus. Romania’s Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu on Saturday had a
telephone conversation with his Hungarian counterpart, Péter Szijjártó, the
latter saying the transit of Romanian nationals to their home country would not
be affected. In turn, Poland will ban flights to 46 countries, including
Romania, starting September 2. Ukraine too has shut down its borders to foreign
citizens, with some exceptions. People exempted to this ban must present a
medical insurance upon crossing the border, which should cover the costs of a
potential COVID treatment and related quarantine expenses.

ELECTION – The campaign for the local election due on September 27
continues in Romania. The authorities have announced the set of regulations
candidates and their teams must observe to prevent the coronavirus from
spreading. According to the Interior Ministry, face masks are compulsory, while
all people attending election events and meetings will undergo triage and will
have to sanitize their hands. Access rules and individual health safety
measures will be publicly displayed. Participants will also have to observe the
minimum 1-meter distance. A maximum of 50 people are admitted for indoor
activities for a maximum duration of 2 hours. In the case of outdoor events, the
participation is limited to a hundred people. Candidates are vying for one of
the 41 positions of presidents of county councils, 3.200 mayor seats, 1.300
county councilmen and 40.000 local councilmen. Originally slated for June, the
local election was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

ROMANIAN LANGUAGE DAY – Cultural events will be held on Monday in
Romania, the Republic of Moldova and abroad to mark Romanian Language Day. Set
up on August 31, 2013, the event pays an homage to the national reawakening
movement in the Republic of Moldova. On August 31, 1989, some 750 thousand
people, a sixth of the Republic’s population at the time, protested in front of
the Parliament building in Chisinau, which decided to declare Romanian an
official state language and switch to the Latin alphabet and replace the Cyrillic
alphabet, which had been used since 1940, when the USSR annexed Moldova.

MOTION – Parliament on Monday is debating and voting a
no-confidence motion against the Liberal Government. The Social-Democrats in
opposition are accusing Ludovic Orban’s cabinet of poor management of the corona
crisis. In turn, the Government has referred the motion to the Constitutional
Court, as Parliament is in its summer recess. President Klaus Iohannis has said
the Social-Democrats are trying to generate political instability that would
benefit their election campaign.

STATISTICS – 5% of Romanian students were enrolled in universities
abroad in 2018, the EUROSTAT reports. At European level, 8% of students were
studying abroad. The leader of this ranking is Luxembourg, with a 48% share of
the total number of students, Cyprus with 24%, Austria, the Czech Republic and
the Netherlands. The lowest shares were reported in Croatia and Greece, 3%,
followed by Spain and Poland, 4%, and Lithuania and Romania, 5%. In 2018, some
408 thousand students were officially enrolled in state and private
universities. Of these, 6% were foreigners.

HANDBALL – The Romanian men’s handball team HC Dobrogea Sud
Constanta on Saturday defeated HC Victor Stavropol of Russia 26-18 in the first
leg of the EHF European League first preliminary round. In the same
competition, AHC Potaissa Turda lost 24-26 to HRK Gorica of Croatia at home.
The return leg is scheduled next week. The Romanian champions Dinamo Bucharest
will play directly in the European League group phase, to kick off in October.

GEORGE ENESCU – The George Enescu prestigious international music
contest continues in Bucharest. Some 205 young musicians from 39 countries are
enrolled in the competition, 184 in the violin, cello and piano sections and 21
in the composition sections. Total prizes stand at €100.000. The competition is
unfolding mostly online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

(Translated
by V. Palcu)