November 27, 2020

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 27.11.2020, 13:55

COVID-19 IN ROMANIA
– Another 8,499 new COVID-19 infections and 172 related deaths were reported on
Friday in Romania. 457,848 people have been infected since the start of the
outbreak and 10,884 people have died to the virus. 1,226 patients are in
intensive care. 6,876 Romanians living abroad have tested positive for
COVID-19, 127 of them have died. Several villages around the capital city are
now in quarantine after the infection rate there has spiked. Doctors say the
measures taken by the authorities are not enough to keep the pandemic in check.
They ask for harsher restrictions, warning that the number of beds in intensive
care units across the country is getting lower by the day. In another
development, the National Authority for Consumer Protection has submitted seven
notifications regarding uncertified masks in Romania, which have already been
filtered through the EU’s rapid alert system. The Authority has recently put a
trade ban on nearly 33 million such masks in Romania.

COVID-19 IN THE WORLD
– Over 61.3 million people around the world have got infected with SARS-CoV-2
since the start of the outbreak, according to the latest worldometers.info
update. Over 1.4 million people have died to the virus. In Europe, Germany
announced plans to vaccinate 900 thousand people over the course of three
months against COVID-19, after progress has been reported to organize the
vaccination campaign. According to our correspondent on the ground,
restaurants, cultural and entertainment venues remain closed, including for the
winter holidays. Schools and nursery schools remain, however, open in Germany.
In France, Health Minister Oliver Veran confirmed the immunization might begin
at the end of December, underlining the need to make the process as transparent
as possible, against the backdrop of high levels of coronascepticism in this
country. Meanwhile the infection rate is going down in Spain. The authorities
have called on the population to continue observing travel restrictions until
the Government and regional authorities announce the set of special measures
for Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.

RECOVERY – The
Government in Bucharest has submitted for public consultation the national
Recovery and Resilience Plan, a post-COVID economic recovery plan, under which
Romania will receive €30 billion worth of European funds. The plan is designed
to uphold an accelerated growth rate over the next four years. The European
funds will be used to build new hospitals and hundreds of kilometers of
motorway, to develop school infrastructure and digitize local administrations.
Of the €30 billion, €14 billion represent non-refundable grants, while the rest
accounts for low-interest loans the Commission has taken out on behalf of all
Member States.

GOVERNMENT – The
Government is today convening in a new session, the second this week, aimed at passing an emergency decree introducing assistance measures for the hospitality
sector, one of the hardest hit by the coronacrisis. The financial aid package
includes grants tantamount to 20% of the losses incurred this year, which caps
out at €800 thousand for a single business. Travel agencies also qualify for
this programme. High on today’s Cabinet meeting is also the anti-COVID national
vaccination strategy, recently made public by Bucharest authorities. President
Klaus Iohannis said the Government should adopt the strategy before the
country’s Supreme Defense Council meeting scheduled for next week. The
Government will also discuss a law on granting emergency assistance to the
families of the victims of the November 14 fire at the Piatra Neamţ Emergency
County Hospital.

BSEC – Romania’s
Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is today presiding the 42nd meeting
of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation (BSEC). Held in videoconference format, the event marks
the end of Romania’s presidency of the Organization in 2020. Albania will hold
the presidency of BSEC in the first half of 2021. According to a Foreign
Ministry release, the Council meeting occasioned a review of all projects and
initiatives launched under the Romanian presidency, which sought to boost
economic cooperation in the Black Sea region and increase regional dialogue
among BSEC Member States with a view to better deal with the social and
economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

FOOTBALL -
Romania’s champions CFR Cluj on Thursday lost nil-2 to AS Rome of Italy in
Europa League Group A. In the other group fixture, Young Boys Berne of
Switzerland defeated Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia. Rome tops the group tables with 10
points, followed by Young Boys with 7 points, CFR Cluj with 4 points and CSKA
with 1 point. In the next round scheduled for December 3, AS Rome will take on
Young Boys while CFR will play CSKA. Eliminated from the Champions League
preliminaries, CFR Cluj is Romania’s last representative in this year’s
inter-club competitions. (V. Palcu)