March 28, 2020
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 28.03.2020, 14:06
Pandemic measures — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has stated today that Romania is ready to cope with the pandemic after he visited the mobile military hospital set up near Bucharest. He underlined that after this crisis, which is going to last and get worse, the authorities will rigorously assess the situation of the entire hospital system in Romania and will take all the measures needed to equip hospitals so as to be able to face any situation, from epidemics to disasters. The president reiterated his appeal to the citizens to observe the measures adopted by the authorities. In another development, the plane of the Romanian Defense Ministry that made the 2nd transport of medical materials from South Korea has landed today in Bucharest. It brought 100 thousand pieces of protection equipment that was purchased by the Romanian state as part of the effort to combat the effects of the pandemic.
COVID-19 Romania — Latest figures regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in Romania show 1452 infected people and 29 deaths. 139 people have recovered and have been discharged from hospital. The National Public Health Institute has updated the COVID-19 testing algorithm. Therefore, tests will be made with priority on the people who travelled abroad, close contacts of the confirmed cases who show symptoms, the medical and sanitary staff and the cases of pneumonia without other etiology. All parks in Bucharest have been closed as of Saturday, in a move of the municipality to contain the spreading of the coronavirus pandemic. In Romania, which is in a state of emergency, traffic restrictions are imposed both during the day and night, with a few exceptions.
Repatriation — 365 Romanian citizens who were temporarily in Italy returned to Romania on Friday evening, the Romanian Foreign Ministry — MAE announced on Saturday. They were transported from Venice in two charter planes operated by a private airline. MAE and the Transport Ministry continue efforts to facilitate the return to Romania of non-resident Romanian citizens who are seasonal workers affected by the closing down of companies in Italy as well as of the Romanian citizens from Italy who are in special situations. Bucharest authorities have renewed appeals to the citizens to avoid trips abroad that are not essential and to the Romanian citizens residing or having their domicile abroad to strictly observe the recommendations of the authorities from those states.
COVID -19 world — Over 600 thousand cases of COVID-19 infection have so far been reported in the world, with the number of deaths exceeding 27 thousand. 133 thousand of the people diagnosed with the new coronavirus have been cured. The US is the only country of the world where the number of contaminations exceeded 100 thousand. The US is followed by Italy with almost 90 thousand cases and more than 9 thousand deaths, the most numerous at global level. Other European states that have been severely affected by the new virus are Spain, Germany, France, Great Britain and Switzerland.
Daylight Saving Time – Romania will switch to summer time on Saturday night. 3.00 hours local time will become 4.00 hours and Sunday will be the year’s shortest day. During the daylight saving time period, the difference between Romania’s official time and GMT is 3 hours, as compared to 2 hours at present. Switching to winter time will take place in the last weekend of October 2020 when clocks will be set back one hour. The European Commission has proposed giving up the daylight saving time in Europe, allowing member states the freedom to decide on their own if they want to continue switching to summer or winter time. The states that decide to permanently maintain the summer time will make the last switch in the last Sunday of March 2021, and those that prefer sticking to the winter time (the standard time) will make the final switch on the last Sunday of October 2021. (translation by L. Simion)
