May 4, 2021 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 04.05.2021, 20:00
NATO – The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, and his Polish counterpart Andrej Duda will host next Monday the Bucharest Nine (B9) Summit. The Polish President will travel to Romania, whereas the other leaders and the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, will attend the meeting via conference call. Preparing the NATO summit in Brussels, due on June 14, that will focus on the consolidation of trans-Atlantic ties, the deterrence and defence posture on the Eastern Flank and security challenges in the Black Sea are on the B9 meeting’s agenda. Dialogue and cooperation with partners in the Eastern neighbourhood, supporting their defence capacity and enhancing NATO’s resilience to current security threats will also be discussed. The B9 format is an initiative launched by Romania and Poland, joined by NATO members on the Eastern Flank, namely Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Hungary. The first B9 summit was held in Bucharest, in 2015. Subsequent high level meetings were held in Warsaw, in 2018 and Kosice in 2019.
CORONAVIRUS — Prime Minister Florin Cîţu said on Tuesday that wearing face masks outdoors may no longer be obligatory after the 1st of August, and said that this will depend on the pace of the anti-Covid immunization campaign. The PM reiterated the importance of vaccination for the progressive introduction of new relaxation measures, saying that the decrease in the number of new infections is also due to it. The authorities’ target is 5 million people vaccinated until June 1st. Since the start of mass vaccination, on December 27, 2020, around 3.5 million Romanians have been vaccinated, of whom 2 million with two doses. 31% of Bucharesters have been vaccinated so far, the highest rate in the country. On Tuesday, army hospitals in the big cities started administering the Covid vaccine to the general population. Those who wish to get the vaccine can simply show up at any time, without an appointment. 994 new coronavirus cases and 94 related deaths were recorded in Romania on Tuesday. Hospital cases continue to drop as some 8,170 Covid patients are currently receiving hospital treatment, of whom around 1,190 in intensive care.
PANDEMIC – The Indian Covid variant has been detected in a number of European countries, with the World Health Organization warning against the relaxation of protection measures and saying that the world is not safe as long as the huge outbreak in India is still wreaking havoc. The Organisation called on the worlds richest nations gathering at the G7 summit to provide the missing funding to ensure fair access to vaccination around the world. In the European Union, member states ambassadors will discuss a proposal from the European Commission to allow entry of travelers from non-EU countries with a good epidemiological situation and who are fully vaccinated with the jabs approved in the Union. In Europe, states began to ease restrictions. In France, internal travel is now allowed, schools have reopened and shops, cinemas, restaurants and museums will also reopen at limited capacity from 19th May. Germany, however, has cancelled Oktoberfest next autumn for the second time in a row. In the US, the Florida governor announced the lifting of all restrictions following the success of the vaccination campaign and New York will resume round-the-clock subway service. Turkey, on the other hand, went into its first full lockdown starting Tuesday.
SCHOOL – Schools are reopening on Wednesday in Romania after a 4-week holiday. Education minister Sorin Cîmpeanu said in-person learning will resume for all nursery school and primary school children, as well as for secondary and high school children where the Covid infection rate is below 1 case in 1,000 residents tested. According to the latest data, there are 1,800 such localities. In the other 1,400 localities with a higher infection rate, only final-year secondary and high school pupils will resume in person learning from 10th of May.
TENNIS – World no. 3 Simona Halep was defeated on Tuesday by Belgiums Elise Mertens in the third round of the Madrid tennis tournament worth over 2.5 million euros. Halep has two titles in Madrid, winning here in 2016 and 2017 and losing two finals, in 2014 and in 2019. (EE)
