February 1, 2021
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 01.02.2021, 13:55
INVESTIGATION. Another
patient, who had been transferred to a different pavilion of the Matei Balş
Institute following Friday’s fire, has died. The announcement was made by the
Ministry of Health, which has also mentioned that the patient was suffering from
a severe form of Covid-19 and had many underlying conditions. A team of
prosecutors, forensic police and specialists continues field investigations in
the case of the fire that broke out on Friday at a pavilion of the Matei Balş Institute in Bucharest, where COVID-19 patients were treated in intensive care.
According to some judicial sources, quoted by Agerpres, at the Homicide Service
of the Bucharest Police Department, the
hearings of witnesses will be resumed, including medical staff, but also
relatives of the eight victims. Investigators are also conducting checks on
fire protection, electrical maintenance and hospital security services. In this
case, the prosecutor’s office started an in rem action, for manslaughter.
VACCINE. A new tranche of COVID-19 vaccine produced by
Pfizer-BioNTech, the largest so far, has arrived in Romania today. The delivery
schedule is much delayed, as in all European countries, but the manufacturing
company has given assurances that, from the middle of this month, the number of
delivered doses will increase. Authorities in Bucharest have also announced
that the administration of the Moderna vaccine starts today. So far, more than 670
thousand people have been vaccinated in Romania. The number of infections with
the new coronavirus has exceeded 730,000. Most of the patients have been cured,
but some 18,400 have died. About 1000 patients are hospitalized in intensive
care units. Abroad, some 8 thousand Romanians have been infected and 151 have
died of Covid-19.
PARLIAMENT. Romanian senators and deputies,
elected in December, start today the first session of the new Legislature. The
priority is the adoption of the State Budget Law for this year. The representatives
of the governing coalition formed by the National Liberal Party, the Save
Romania Union – PLUS Alliance and the Union of Democratic Hungarians in Romania
want to initiate large-scale reforms in the field of salaries, pensions,
education and health. In turn, opposition parties have announced that they will
promote the initiatives they talked about during the election campaign and that
they will bring more amendments to the Government’s bills.
PROTEST. In Bucharest, members of the SANITAS Federation are
protesting today in front of the Government headquarters, to demand respect for
the rights of employees in the health-care system. The union accuses the
authorities of indifference and says it is protesting for those who have been
fighting the virus that caused the pandemic for more than 12 months and for the
rights of colleagues in vaccination and social assistance centers. Sanitas
demands compliance with the salary increases planned for 2021, fixing
inequities affecting the categories of employees with the lowest incomes in the
system, reporting increases to the basic salary paid for all employees in the
health system and providing the risk incentive for social workers.
INCOMES. Most Romanians do not expect their incomes to
grow in 2021. According to an IRSOP survey, 54% of respondents say their
earnings will be similar to last year, 17% lower and 27% think their earnings
will be bigger. Almost two thirds of Romanians believe that prices will rise a
lot this year, and 30 percent anticipate a slightly more moderate increase.
Despite the health crisis, last year, 33% of those surveyed managed to save
money, and in 2021, almost half say they intend to put money aside. The IRSOP
survey, funded from its own funds, was conducted over January 18 to 28 on a
representative sample and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5%.
RUSSIA. The High Representative of the European Union
Josep Borrell has deplored the massive arrests during Sunday’s protests against
President Vladimir Putin and for the release of his main opponent, Alexei
Navalny, as well as what he called the disproportionate use of force against
protesters and journalists. Borell’s reaction comes shortly before his visit to
Moscow on February 4-6 to ask for Navalny’s release and to discuss means of normalizing
relations between Russia and the European Union. The US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken has also condemned Moscow’s crackdown on anti-government
protesters. In response, the Russian MFA accused the United States of blatant
interference in its internal affairs. It was the second round of protests since
Navalny was detained upon his return from Germany, where he was treated after an
alleged poisoning that he blames on President Vladimir Putin and the Russian
security services.
TENNIS. The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, world
number two, has qualified for the eight finals of the Gippsland Trophy
tournament in Melbourne, with 55,000 $ in prize money. Halep has won her first
match of 2021 against the Russian Anastasia Potapova, 6-4, 6-4. Next, Halep
will play against the winner of the match between the Australian Destanee Aiava
and Laura Siegemund of Germany. On Tuesday, the other Romanian in the
competition, Irina Begu, will play in the second round against Aliaksandra
Sasnovich of Belarus. (M. Ignatescu)
