March 27, 2021 UPDATE

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Leyla Cheamil, 27.03.2021, 19:12

COVID-19 Authorities in Romania have announced fresh restrictions amid an
increasing number of Covid-19 infections. The new restrictions are to come into
effect on Sunday, and under a government decision released on Friday night,
every Romanian region will have to report their infection rates. An infection
rate of 4 per thousand will force shops and service providers to close down at
18 hours while a curfew is to be observed starting 20 hours during the weekend.
A rate of 7.5 cases per thousand means the new restrictions can be applied the
entire week not only at the weekend. Roughly 59 hundred fresh Covid-19
infections were reported in Romania on Saturday out of 37 thousand tests
conducted. One year on from the onset of the pandemic 930 thousand people were
infected in Romania, which reported a death toll of 23 thousand. The number of
Romanians who got at least one dose of the anti-Covid vaccine stands at roughly
1,900,000. Half of these have also got the booster dose.

CHISINAU Parliament in the neighboring Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova on
Saturday marked for the first time through a solemn session 103 years since the
union of Basserabia with Romania. The event was attended by the presidents of
Science Academia in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, leading figures of culture
and MPs. On March 27th 1918, towards the end of WWI, Basserabia’s
Legislature unanimously voted the union of this province with the Romanian
kingdom. It was the first stage in the process of creating the unitary Romanian
state, which was completed through the joining of other Romanian regions, such
as Bukovina, Transylvania, Banat, Crisana and Maramures, which until then had
been part of Austria-Hungary. In the summer of 1940, through an ultimatum, the USSR
annexed Basserabia and northern Bukovina, Romanian territories, which today
belong to the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Ukraine.

TENNIS The
world’s third best tennis player Simona Halep of Romania had to abandon the
Miami Open tournament due to injuries in her right shoulder, WTA webpage has
announced. Following Halep’s withdrawal, her slated third-round opponent
Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia has advanced to the fourth round. The latest
match pitching the two was in Doha in 2018, when Halep obtained a victory. Romanian
player Sorana Cirstea was outperformed by Anett Kontaveit of Estonia 6-3, 4-6,
6-3 in the second round of the aforementioned tournament.

EARTH HOUR The presidential administration in Bucharest decided to join the
‘Earth Hour’ event by switching off interior and exterior lights at the
Cotroceni palace, the headquarters of the Romanian presidency on Saturday
night. Earth Hour is at present one of the biggest world movements for the
protection of the environment and it involves millions of people, who are
switching off lights all over the world for one hour in order to prove their
commitment to saving the planet. The movement appeared in Australia in 2007 and
since then over 190 countries and territories have joined it.

STRIKE The Bucharest underground has resumed its activity after the employees
mounted a protest on Friday by blocking tracks. According to the authorities,
the protest was illegal and was sparked off by an older dispute concerning the
commercial spaces on its premises, which allegedly had a trade union leader
involved. The protesters have been blamed for having failed to comply with the
present regulations, putting travelers’ health at risk, as they had to use
crowded public transport vehicles. In turn, the employees representatives who
have blamed the authorities for their lack of interest in a constructive
dialogue, said the protest was an unofficial strike sparked off by the board’s
decision to cut down salaries.

(bill)