November 7, 2020 UPDATE

A look at the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 07.11.2020, 19:22

US elections. Democratic candidate for US president Joe Biden
is projected to win the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which would secure
him the victory in the race for the White House. Votes are still being counted
around the country four days after election day. His pick for vice-president
Kamala Harris would thus become the first woman elected vice-president.

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. Global coronavirus cases are nearing 50 million,
while the death toll is 1.2 million. The 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. Most states in Europea have introduced
new restrictions. Lithuania is in lockdown for three weeks beginning on
Saturday, and new restrictions came into force in Poland, which has seen half a
million cases. Cinemas, theatres and other cultural venues are closed. In
shopping centres, only essential shops remain open. Greece also went into
lockdown for three weeks on Saturday, with people banned from leaving their
homes except to go to work and for justified reasons. Slovakia is organising
its second round of national mass-testing this weekend.

Defence. The Romanian defence
ministry is considering purchasing a new batch of military planes, said defence
minister Nicolae Ciucă on Saturday after talks with his Portuguese counterpart Joăo
Titterington Gomes Cravinho in Bucharest. Ciucă said the aircraft must be
compatible with those that are already in the possession of the Romanian army. He
added that the modernisation of the first squadron of F-16 aircraft purchased
from Portugal is being finalised. The Portuguese minister said the final plane
of a total of 17 would be supplied next year. This year, 4 F-16 Fighting Falcon
planes out of a total of 5 have come into the possession of the Romanian Air
Force, which has 12 other similar planes that are already carrying out air policing
missions under NATO command. (CM)