November 14, 2020

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 14.11.2020, 13:55

COVID-19 RO. The state of alert has been extended, as of
today, by another 30 days in Romania. President Klaus Iohannis has once again
called on the population to comply with the new restrictions aimed at curbing
the spread of the new coronavirus. The head of state believes that these
additional measures will show results in
two or three weeks. Since Monday, the hometown of the head of state, Sibiu, in
central Romania, as well as three neighboring localities are in quarantine for
two weeks. The decision was made because, in Sibiu, the infection rate reached
almost 12 cases per thousand inhabitants, signaling an intense community
transmission. Romania continues to report some 10,000 daily cases of infection
with the new coronavirus. Almost 1,170 patients are in intensive care. Since
the first case was reported in late February, nearly 353,000 people have become
infected with Sars-Cov-2, of whom about 239,000 have recovered. The total
number of deaths associated with Covid-19 has reached, in the same period,
almost 8,800.

PANDEMIC. The
restrictions imposed recently by the governments of many countries are starting
to show the first results, but the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is a
severe burden for all healthcare systems. The biggest pressure is on the
intensive care units. Almost 54 million people
have been infected with the new virus, of whom 38 million have cured, since the virus
appeared in China almost a year ago. The death toll has exceeded 1.3 million
worldwide. The United States, the worst hit country, with nearly 250,000
deaths, reported worrying figures for two days in a row. In Canada, Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau says efforts must be doubled to curb the epidemic. On
the European continent, Germany, Austria and Portugal have announced new daily records.
In Italy, the number of infections has tripled in a month.

ELECTION. The
neighboring Republic of Moldova is preparing for the second round of the
presidential elections on Sunday, when the incumbent pro-Russia president Igor
Dodon, runs against the former pro-Europe Prime Minister, Maia Sandu. In the
first round, Maia Sandu got the largest number of votes 36%, while Igor Dodon
won less than 33%. However, the final battle is expected to be extremely close,
and the balance could be tipped by the votes in the Diaspora for Maia Sandu or
in the Russian-speaking separatist Transdniestr for Igor Dodon. During the campaign,
the current pro-Russia president urged his supporters to hold post-election
protests if necessary, to defend his victory. As for Maia Sandu, she spoke
about the need for change and the fight against corruption.

ECONOMY. Romania’s
economy registered, in the third quarter of this year, an increase of 5.6%,
after a decline of 12.2% between April and June 2020 – according to data from
the European Statistical Office, Eurostat. It is the most severe setback, along
with that of Spain, in the European Union, where the Gross Domestic Product
decreased by 4.3% in the third quarter of 2020, compared to the same period in
2019. Eurostat data also show a partial recovery, after the European GDP
registered an annual decline of 13.9% in the second quarter of 2020, the most
significant since 1995, when such data were first published.

NIGHT OF
MUSEUMS. Museums and cultural spaces in Romania have planned for the 16th
edition of the Night of Museums festival, interactive activities on social networks and
on their own websites. At the same time, the institutions that carry out their
projects offline were asked to adapt to the new governmental measures regarding
the activities with public and to the night circulation restrictions due to the
pandemic. More than 60 museums and cultural operators from all over the country
have signed up this year to celebrate the Night of Museums, which is a European programme. Usually organized
in May, it was moved to mid-November due to the pandemic. Initiated 16 years
ago by the French Ministry of Culture, sponsored by the Council of Europe,
UNESCO and the International Council of Museums, the Night of Museums festival
mobilized in 2019, in Romania, over 150 museums and cultural entities, which
interacted with almost 1 million people.

FOOTBALL. All the players and staff members
of the Romanian national football team have tested negative for Covid-19, so
the Romanian squad can play the match against Norway – the Romanian Football
Federation announced today. The Romania-Norway match takes place on Sunday
evening, in Bucharest. Then, on November 18, the Romanians will travel to
Northern Ireland. Both League of Nations matches are important for the FIFA
rankings, which will determine the ballot boxes for the draw of the preliminary
groups for the 2022 World Cup. (M. Ignatescu)