July 27, 2021 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 27.07.2021, 20:00
ROSIA MONTANA – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis hailed the adding of the ancient Roman gold mining area of Rosia Montana in central Romania to UNESCO’s world heritage list on Tuesday. “Through joint efforts of authorities and experts, Rosia Montana must become a model of highlighting the heritage by a sustainable development of the area”, Iohannis said in a Facebook post. The decision was taken unanimously by the World Heritage Committee convened in Fouzhou, China, between July 16 and 31. UNESCO experts said they have to travel to Romania to see how the cultural heritage there can be protected best.
CORONAVIRUS – The National Committee for Emergency Situations decided that children up to 6 years of age should no longer be tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection upon arriving from high-risk regions. The requirement remains in place for children aged between 6 and 16. RT-PCR tests must be conducted 72 hours at most before boarding on public transport means or before entering Romanian territory. Also, athletes arriving in Romania from red-listed countries to take part in competitions are exempt from the obligation to isolate if they produce a negative RT-PCR test completed 72 hours at most before entering the country and if they only take part in competition activities. Meanwhile, the Romanian authorities continue to urge citizens to get vaccinated, arguing that immunization reduces the risk of the authorities having to introduce new restrictions. For the time being, however, containment measures are further eased. As of 1 August, the maximum number of participants in private events is higher. The interior minister Lucian Bode warned that face covering remains compulsory indoors. On Tuesday 175 new Covid-19 cases were reported as well as 3 related deaths. The number of hospitalized patients is currently over 330, with 43 of them in ICUs.
PANDEMIC – Seventy percent of adults in the European Union have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccines and the proportion of people aged 18 and over having been fully inoculated now stands at 57%, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Tuesday. She also said that these figures put Europe among the world leaders but warned that “the Delta variant is very dangerous.” The European official promised that the EU would further deliver enough vaccine. The Delta variant, the most contagious so far, has been spreading fast Europe in recent weeks and has become dominant in most parts of the continent.
BUDGET – Romania’s consolidated budget deficit for the first half of the year is 2.96% of GDP, down since the previous year, according to data made public by the finance ministry on Tuesday. In January-June, investment expenses were around 1 billion euro higher than in the corresponding period of 2020, while exceptional pandemic-related expenses amounted to a rough 1.6 billion euro. The budget deficit target for this year is 7.16% of GDP. The Government is working on an emergency order to amend the state budget, expected to be passed in mid-August. Several ministries, including the transport and agriculture, requested additional funding. The education minister Sorin Cîmpeanu has also requested funds to finance an additional 6,000 resident doctor positions compared to last year.
TIFF – The 2021 edition of the largest cinema event in Romania, the Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF) continues in Cluj-Napoca (north-west), until 1 August. Scheduled for screening on Tuesday were “The Flood Won’t Come” (Lithuania, director Marat Sargsyan) and “Persian Lessons” (Russia, directed by Vadim Perelman). A deeply atypical war film, “The Flood Won’t Come” brings about a downpour of intense visual experiences, dark humour and moral conflicts. “Persian Lessons” tells the true story of a Jew who pretends to be Iranian to escape the Holocaust. Over 170 films are screened in this year’s festival. Concerts and meetings with film industry representatives are also organised as part of the event. TIFF aims to promote cinema by presenting some of the most important contemporary works which reflect the originality of their authors, less common forms of cinematic expression and new cultural trends.
OLYMPICS – Romanias prodigy David Popovici on Tuesday morning put up an outstanding performance in the 200m free-style final of the Tokyo Olympics. The 16-year old swimmer was only 2 hundredths of a second away from the bronze medal, but he nevertheless set up a new national record. Also on Tuesday morning, the Romanian Robert Glinţă came out the 8th in the 100m backstroke final. (EE)
