January 3, 2021

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 03.01.2021, 14:07

Covid-19 Ro. As of Monday, vaccination
against COVID-19 start in Romania in over 90% of the 370 centers set up for the
vaccination of the medical staff, so about 20,000 people will be immunized
daily. The statement was made by the coordinator of the national vaccination
campaign, Col. Dr. Valeriu Gheorghiţă, who mentioned that, since December 27,
when the immunization of medical staff began, about 13,200 people have been
vaccinated and 27 minor side effects have been reported. The most recent report
of the Strategic Communication Group in Bucharest indicates over 3400 new cases
of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 in 24 hours in Romania. So far, since the onset
of the pandemic, some 640 thousand cases have been confirmed. The number of
deaths associated with COVID-19 is close to 16,000, and currently 1,119
patients are in intensive care.

Pandemic. In parallel with vaccination
campaigns, new restrictions to curb the coronavirus pandemic mark the beginning
of the year. After a relaxing break during the Christmas and New Year holidays,
the Greek authorities have decided to re-impose harsh restrictions today, which
will end on January 11: a ban on night traffic and the closure of stores and
beauty shops, and also of churches. Schools will also remain closed. France
will apply travel restrictions from 18:00, not 20:00 as before, and Germany
will consider extending the quarantine after January 10. The British government
has decided to postpone the resumption of classes in all primary schools in
London, and in Italy it is the fourth day of national quarantine. At the same
time, anyone coming from abroad will be quarantined for two weeks. With nearly
21 million infections confirmed so far and about 358,000 deaths, the United
States remains the most affected country in the world. On the other hand, the
more contagious strain of the virus, initially found in the UK, is being
detected in a growing number of other countries.

Statistics. Romanians
have officially become the second largest foreign nationality in Austria,
according to a statement from Statistics Austria. The data show that the number of Romanian citizens living
in Austria went up in 2019 by 10,777 people, reaching 123,461 on January 1st,
2020. This strong increase sent the Romanians to the second position, after
Germans (200,059 people) and ahead of citizens of Serbia (122,364) and Turkey
(117,640), reads the communiqué. According to preliminary results, 1,487,020
people of foreign nationality live in Austria, which accounts for 16.7% of the
total population.

Visit. The President of the Republic
of Moldova (the former Soviet country with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population), pro-Western
Maia Sandu, will pay an official visit to Ukraine on January 12, the
Presidential Secretary General Andrei Spinu has announced. The information was
previously published by Igor Iovka, a representative of the Ukrainian Press
Office, according to which this visit, the first since the election of Maia
Sandu, will mark a reset of the relations between Chisinau and Kiev. The
political relationship between the two states was cold during the period when
the President of the Republic of Moldova was Igor Dodon, a declared
pro-Russian. The first high-level visit received by Maia Sandu after taking
over the presidency was that of the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, on
December 29. The two officials adopted a joint statement aimed at strengthening
the strategic partnership between Bucharest and Chisinau

Employment. In Romania, the quota of
newly admitted foreign workers on the labor market will decrease this year by
5,000 people, from 30,000 in 2020. The decision was made based on the latest
data submitted by the General Inspectorate for Immigration, which indicated a
decrease in the number of employment / posting notices issued to foreign
nationals in the first 10 months of 2020. Another reason was that, as of this
year, employers are exempted from the obligation to obtain employment permits
for citizens the Republic of Moldova,
Ukraine and the Republic of Serbia, with an individual full-time employment
contract, for a maximum period of nine months in a calendar year.

(M. Ignatescu)