May 19, 2021

A roundup of domestic and international news

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Newsroom, 19.05.2021, 14:02

Vaccination. Over four
million Romanians have been immunized, so far, against COVID-19, the country
occupying the seventh place at European level with regard to the administration
of the complete vaccination scheme. Vaccination is now possible without
appointment, so anybody can go to a vaccination center with just an ID. Tens of
thousands of people have been immunized in recent days in the drive-through
system and in so-called vaccination marathons held across the country. In
another move, the Strategic Communication Group reported 707 news cases of
infection with the new coronavirus in 24 hours, out of 31 thousand tests
performed, confirming the downward trend of the pandemic. In 24 hours, 54
patients diagnosed with COVID-19 died.

School. 93% of the total
number of pupils in Romania, i.e. 2.7 million, have physically returned to
school today. The Minister of Education, Sorin Cîmpeanu, has announced that, if
the downward trend of the infection rate with the new coronavirus is confirmed,
the 200,000 children who still take online courses, in 534 localities with an
incidence of more than 1 per one thousand inhabitants, will also be able to return
to school soon. The minister urges school principals to ensure compliance with
the protection measures and rules in place, explaining that if a school cannot
provide a differentiated schedule and there are too many children during the
break, then they will have to wear a mask.

GDP. Romania’s gross domestic product increased by 2.8% in the first quarter of
this year, compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, and remained flat compared
to the same quarter last year – according to the National Institute of
Statistics. Liberal Prime Minister Florin Cîţu has spoken of a historic
comeback and promised that the center-right government will prepare new
measures to make the post-pandemic economy stronger and more competitive. In
reply, the president of the opposition Social Democratic Party, Marcel Ciolacu,
has stated that the only historic thing is the collapse of Romanians’
purchasing power.

Immigrants. Border police
from Petea, Satu Mare County (northwest) found a minibus driver who had hidden
in a specially arranged place in the luggage compartment seven citizens from
Syria and Bangladesh, with the intention of illegally crossing them the border to
Hungary. During the preliminary verifications, it was established that the
driver from Timişoara, as well as two other Romanian passengers in the minibus were
the guides of the seven foreign citizens, aged between 20 and 41. The border
police are investigating the crime of attempted fraudulent crossing of the
state border for the seven foreign citizens, as well as the crime of
trafficking in migrants for the three Romanian citizens.

Eurovision. Romania’s
representative at Eurovision 2021, Roxen, did not qualify, on Tuesday evening,
in the first semifinal of the competition held in Rotterdam. Roxen had competed
in 13th place with the song Amenisia. Romania’s best performances
in this competition were: twice the third place (Luminiţa Anghel & Sistem -
Kiev, 2005; Paula Seling and Ovi – Oslo, 2010) and once the fourth place (Mihai
Trăistariu – Athens, 2006). The Eurovision Song Contest, which has reached its
65th edition, will continue on Thursday with the second semifinal, the grand
final being scheduled for Saturday, May 22nd.

Football. The CFR Cluj
(northwest) football team won its fourth consecutive title of Romanian
champion, on Tuesday night, after defeating FC Botoşani (northeast) with the
score of 1-0, away from home , in the ninth (penultimate) stage of the play-off
phase of the First Football League. CFR has thus won its seventh title. The CFR
Cluj football team will be Romania’s only representative in the Champions
League. (MI)