March 18, 2021 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 18.03.2021, 20:00
COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – Almost
6,200 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Romania on Thursday. The total
number of infected people nationwide has exceeded 880,000. Most cases were
registered in Bucharest, with more than one thousand new infections in 24
hours. The capital and eight other counties are currently in the red scenario,
with over 3 cases per one thousand inhabitants. There are 1,286 people in
Intensive Care, a new record for the last months. Another 90 people infected with
SARS-CoV-2 have died, bringing the death toll to 22,000. The alert state
imposed in the pandemic context has been extended in Romania, since March 14,
by another 30 days. All restrictions imposed so far are still in place, and in
addition, night curfew now starts at 10 pm.
VACCINE – In Romania, the national
immunization campaign against COVID 19 continues. Since its start on December
27, over 1.6 million people have been vaccinated, mostly with Pfizer-BioNTech,
but also with Moderna and AstraZeneca. Romania has decided to continue
vaccination with AstraZeneca, based on scientific data and the recommendations
of the European Medicines Agency, the coordinator of the national immunization
campaign, Colonel Valeriu Gheorghiţă, explained. He said the decision was not
easy when many European countries – including Germany, Italy and France -
decided to temporarily suspend the use of the vaccine as a precautionary
measure following reports of blood clotting problems in people who had been
given a dose of this vaccine. The third stage of vaccination has started this
week, addressing the general population. For the time being, vaccinations are
taking place in localities where the incidence of COVID-19 cases is higher than
4.5 per one thousand inhabitants. The rest of the population can subscribe to
waiting lists on the electronic platform.
EMA – The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on
Thursday announced the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective against
COVID-19. The announcement came from EMA director, Emer Cooke, who pointed out
the benefits of this vaccine outweigh the risks, and that there is no
connection between the administration of this vaccine and the development of
blood clots in patients who were given the jab.
The announcement comes after several European Union member states suspended
the administration of this vaccine for fear of side effects. On January 29, the
EMA gave the green light to this vaccine developed by the British-Swedish
laboratory AstraZeneca and Oxford University. Last month, the World Health
Organization authorized the AstraZeneca vaccine for emergency use, making it
easier for developing countries to access this relatively cheap serum.
JUDICIARY – The judicial
committee of the Chamber of Deputies on Thursday adopted, by majority of votes,
the Government’s bill on abolishing the Special Section Investigating Crime in
Justice. The document also includes an amendment tabled by the group of
national minorities, which calls for an opinion from the Superior Council of
Magistrates for indicting magistrates. The opposition and part of magistrates’
associations have criticized the bill. Social-Democrat leader Marcel Ciolacu
said his party would challenge the bill at the Constitutional Court if adopted
by Parliament. Coalition parties on the other hand expressed their support for
the bill, which is due to be debated in the Chamber of Deputies. The Senate is
the decision-making body in this matter. Prime Minister Florin Cîţu in February
said shutting down the Special Section is one of the projects of his coalition
government, as well as a recommendation of the European Commission under the
Cooperation and Verification Mechanism.
ALPINE CLIMBING – Romanian
alpine climber Horia Colibăşanu has left for Nepal where he begins his 17th
expedition in the Himalayas. His objective is open up a new route to Dhaulagri
summit (8.167m). The 2021 expedition will take place over March – June. His
team also includes another two seasoned climbers: Marius Gane – a
top-performing athlete and high-altitude climber and Peter Hamor, a Slovakian
climber who’s summited all 14 8,000-meter peaks in the Himalayas. The three
will try to summit without oxygen and Sherpa support. This will be Colibăşanu’s
22nd international expedition. He is the only Romanian climber to be
awarded the Spirit of Mountaineering distinction by the British Alpine Club,
the first and most prestigious mountaineering club in the world.
TENNIS – Romanian tennis player
Jaqueline Cristian (160 WTA) obtained the best performance of her career after qualifying
to the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 tournament in St. Petersburg, totaling 565
thousand dollars in prizes. Cristian ousted Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, a
former winner at Roland Garros and seeded 6th in the competition. In
the next round, Jaqueline Cristian will take on Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia
(39 WTA). In the doubles, the pair made up of Monica Niculescu of Romania and Lesley Pattinama
Kerkhove of the Netherlands advanced to the semi-finals, where they will play
Raluca Olaru of Romania and Nadia Kicenok of Ukraine. The top favorites, Olaru
and Kicenok, ousted Arina Rodionova of Australia and Rosalie
Van Der Hoeck of the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. (M.I. & V.P.)
