November 7, 2020

Some of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 07.11.2020, 13:55

Romania elections. The election
campaign for the parliamentary elections of 6th December is under
way in Romania. Just like in the case of the local elections, held at the end
of September, the authorities have restricted the number of people who can take
part in campaign events and have imposed strict hygiene rules under which these
can take place. Over 39,000 Romanian citizens living abroad have registered to
vote by mail in these upcoming elections. Most such applications came from the
Romanian communities in the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and France. Voting
stations abroad will be open over the course of two days, 5th and 6th
December.

Coronavirus Romania. The Romanian healthcare system can cope with 10,000
new coronavirus cases a day depending on how many of them are serious cases,
said the health minister Nelu Tătaru. He gave assurances that he would continue
to increase the number of intensive care beds for Covid patients and emphasised
that the idea of doctors screening patients in serious condition is out of the
question. Romania hit 10,000 new daily cases on Friday and 9937 new cases were
reported on Saturday. 1,048 people are receiving intensive care treatment. The
death toll reached 7,933, with 130 new deaths in the last 24 hours. Some of the
patients in serious condition may be transferred for treatment abroad if
hospitals in Romania become overcrowded, said president Klaus Iohannis. He said
that in two weeks’ time he hoped the country would see the result of the new
restrictions coming into force on Monday. Wearing face masks will become
mandatory in all open and enclosed public spaces around the country, regardless
of the infection rate. All schools move to online teaching, but crèches and
after-school facilities remain open. Night-time travel will be banned between
11 pm and 5 am unless for justified reasons. Also beginning on Monday, shops
cannot stay open later than 9 pm and enclosed markets will close.

Coronavirus world. The Covid-19 pandemic is growing, with the biggest
number of new cases being reported in the US, with over 127,000 new daily
infections. Europe remains, however, the worst hit region in the world, with 12
million cases since the start of the outbreak and almost 300,000 deaths,
according to France Presse news agency based on data provided by the European
states. The situation is also becoming more and more serious in hospitals,
which are struggling to cope with the exponential rise in new patients. This is
the case in Italy, which saw a record number of new daily infections, almost
40,000, and where hospitals are now only able to treat patients in serious and
very serious condition. A lockdown has been declared in Greece beginning on
Saturday. For the next three weeks, people will only be allowed to leave their
homes to go to work and a few other reasons. The UK still has the highest
number of victims, with more than 48,000 deaths and over 1,100,000 cases.