November 29, 2020 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 29.11.2020, 20:00

COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – Another 5,554 new COVID-19
infections and 148 related deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, the
Group for Strategic Communication announced on Sunday. The total number of
infections has exceeded 470 thousand, 70% of patients having recovered. The
national death toll has also climbed to 11,193. 1,250 people are currently in
intensive care. Bucharest is the most affected city in Romania. 6,914 Romanians
living abroad tested positive for COVID-19, 127 of whom have died.

COVID-19 IN THE
WORLD – Over 62.6 million people around the world have been infected with
SARS-CoV-2 since the beginning of the outbreak, the latest worldometers.info
update reveals. The global death toll now exceeds 1.4 million. The three most
affected countries are the United States, India and Brazil. In Europe, starting
December 1, stores will reopen in Belgium, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has
announced, although the country will remain in partial quarantine to allow
efforts to contain the pandemic. Belgium has been severely affected by the
second wave of the pandemic and has been under lockdown since October 30. In
France, the authorities are easing restrictions, allowing shops selling
non-essential products to reopen. People can also leave their homes for up to
three hours for leisure time and physical exercise. The decision comes just shy
of a month of harsh lockdown restrictions, which has led to a slump in the
number of daily infections in this country.

CAMPAIGN – The campaign for the legislative election due on December 6 continues
in Romania. As in the case of the local election, held on September 27, the
authorities have limited the number of participants to election rallies and
introduced strict health safety regulations. Citizens will be able to cast
their votes in all polling stations on election day, Prime Minister Ludovic
Orban has said, adding that citizens infected with COVID-19, currently in
quarantine or isolation, will be able to vote with the help of the mobile
ballot box. More and more towns and villages across Romania are entering
quarantine against the growing infection rate. Romanians living abroad will be
able to vote on December 5 and the 6. Representing the Romanian Diaspora will
be four deputies and two senators.

BRUA – Romania’s President Klaus
Iohannis attended the completion of the first phase in the BRUA pipeline
project, in an event hosted by Jupa in Caraş Severin County. The President said
the delivery of new natural gas supplies will better meet internal demand and
will add predictability and stability to the national distribution network.
BRUA seeks to develop a natural gas interconnector linking Bulgaria, Romania,
Hungary and Austria to the southern corridor transporting gas from Azerbaijan.
The Romanian gas company Transgaz announced the first gas supplies via the new
BRUA pipeline will be delivered next week, from Romania to Hungary.

NATIONAL
DAY
– December 1, the National Day of Romania, will this year be celebrated in a
restricted ceremony, to be attended by doctors, medical staff and foreign
ambassadors. The traditional military parade organized on this occasion was
cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Restricted ceremonies will also be held
in big cities across the country, to be attended by local authorities. The
Foreign Ministry this year marks the National Day by means of a digital diplomacy
project, a virtual dialogue space where friends and partners of Romania, but
also members of Romanian communities abroad can meet and exchange opinions in a
novel environment adapted to the challenges posed by the global health context. Over November 28 – December 1, in a special
section on the Ministry website, mae.ro, the Foreign Ministry is promoting
Romanian talent and history, with a focus on classical and contemporary music,
theatre, performing and visual arts. The Ministry is also making public a
number of diplomatic documents from its archive. The virtual section will also
include an area devoted to online actions carried out by Romania’s diplomatic
missions and consular offices.

MOLDOVA – Authorities have declared a state of emergency in the Republic of
Moldova, in place until January 15, 2021. All nightclubs have been closed,
while restaurants, bars and coffee shops will close before 10 PM. Colloquiums
and sports competitions with physical attendance have been banned. Theatres,
cinemas and concert halls have also shut down. Public and private institutions
will have to introduce special working hours, with the physical presence of
only those workers who cannot work from home. According to our correspondent on
the ground, restrictions were previously introduced in the Republic of Moldova,
although they were not fully observed, not even by the authorities. Socialist
Prime Minister Ion Chicu organized his son’s wedding party, while in the
campaign for the presidential election, the acting President, Igor Dodon, held
a rally with hundreds of participants.

HANDBALL – Romania’s women’s
handball team are preparing for the European Championship hosted by Denmark
between December 3 and 20. Romania is playing in Group D in the final
tournament, alongside Norway, Germany and Poland, with the games taking place
in the town of Kolding. On December 3, Romania will play Germany. On December 5
it will take on Poland, then it will play Norway on December 7. Denmark is the
sole host of the tournament after the second designated host, neighboring
Norway, pulled out. On November 16, only 17 days before the first game was due,
Oslo announced that healthcare constraints related to the COVID-19 pandemic
prevent it from organizing the competition.

BASKETBALL – The Romanian men’s basketball
team on Monday is playing the world champion, Spain, in Valencia, in a fixture
counting towards the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 preliminary Group A. On Saturday,
Romania lost 91-61 to Poland. After three matches, Romania has zero points and
is bottom of the group tables. The last group fixtures will be played next
year. The top three teams in each group will qualify to the 2022 European
Championship. (V. Palcu)