November 17, 2021 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 17.11.2021, 20:00

Covid-19. Over 3,500 new Covid cases were recorded in the last 24
hours in Romania, as well as 350 related fatalities, including 51 from an
earlier date. The incidence rate over the last fortnight is on the decrease,
with the infection rate dropping to 5.03 cases per 1,000 inhabitants in
Bucharest, as against 5.34 the previous day. The highest figure was reported on
22 October (16.54 per thousand). The indicator is still over 6 per thousand in
44 cities in the country. As of Wednesday Romania has over 7 million fully
vaccinated citizens.

Inflation. The EU year-on-year inflation rose to 4.4% in October, as
against 3.6% in September. The highest rates were reported in Lithuania (8.2%),
Estonia (6.8%), Hungary (6.6%) and Romania (6.5%), Eurostat announced on
Wednesday. Disruptions in energy supply and the growing costs in the sector slow
down the growth of the Eurozone economy and will keep inflation up for longer
than predicted, the head of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde warned
on Monday.

Corruption. Two nurses, 2 clerks and another person in no official capacity were detained under suspicion of
bribe-taking, computer fraud and forgery in an investigation involving forged
COVID-19 vaccination certificates. Some 3,000 false certificates have been
issued in recent months in Vama Petea, north-western Romania, in exchange for 250
to 300 euros each. Early this month the Interior Ministry announced over 360 criminal
cases are pending, with nearly 900 individuals facing fraud charges in similar
circumstances. In related news, the ex-Senator and transport minister Dan Şova
was sentenced on Wednesday to 4 years behind bars for influence peddling. The
sentence can be appealed.

Migrants.
Poland’s defence minister Mariusz Blaszczak warned on Wednesday that the
ongoing crisis on the Belarus border ‘may last for months or even years’, and added
that migrants once again tried to push across the border on Tuesday night.
Several police workers were injured in the clashes with the migrants crowding
at the border between the 2 countries in the past few weeks. Poland, which
strengthened border security, is blaming the crisis on Belarus, but Minsk
dismisses the accusations. Against this background, the EU announced it is
considering a joint military force of up to 5,000 troops, to intervene in a
number of crises without needing to rely on the US. (tr. A.M. Popescu)