October 2, 2020

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 02.10.2020, 13:55

MEETING – On the second day of the European Council meeting held in
Brussels, President Klaus Iohannis will be pleading for a robust and
consolidated single market, capable of supporting the development of Member
States. Klaus Iohannis believes developing the transport, energy and environment
infrastructure, as well as digital infrastructure, is key in countries such as
Romania, situated at the geographical periphery of the Union. According to the
President, the single market comes with undeniable opportunities, but also
challenges at the level of society. President Iohannis will therefore underline
the need to protect vulnerable groups, including seasonal workers, whose situation
needs to be improved via the concerted action of European institutions and
member states. On the other hand, the Romanian president will hail the
importance of the digital transformation of Europe, referring to significant
funds that will be allotted to the development of advanced digital
technologies. EU heads of state and government are today in Brussels,
discussing possibilities of tapping the full potential of the single market,
creating a promising industrial policy and capitalizing on the opportunities
arisen from the latest digital breakthroughs.

COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – 2,343 new cases of COVID-19 and 53 deaths have
been reported in the last 24 hours in Romania. 571 patients are currently in
intensive care. So far, 4,915 people have died to the virus, while the total
number of confirmed infections exceeds 132,000. The high number of infections
has determined Prime Minister Ludovic Orban to call on the relevant authorities
to ensure the daily observance of health safety measures. The Prime Minister
warned that wherever the infection rate has exceeded 1.5 cases per 1 thousand
inhabitants in the last 14 days, bars, restaurants and other enclosed areas
will be shut down pending an improvement in the epidemiological context. On the
other hand, 344 schools across the country have switched to online teaching
exclusively. Over 770 children have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the last
week, Health Minister Nelu Tătaru has announced.

COVID-19 IN THE WORLD – The global number of infections has reached 34.5
million cases, while some 1.02 million people have died. Over 25.6 million
people have recovered, the worldometers.info website reads. In Brazil there are
nearly 145,000 deaths and over 4.8 million confirmed infections, making it the
second-most affected country in the world after the United States. The US
President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that both himself and his wife, the
First Lady, Melania Trump, have tested positive for COVID-19. In Israel, the
infection rate stands at 13% of the total number of people tested. Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the current mobility restrictions introduced
at national level aren’t paying out, so the authorities are planning on
introducing new measures to prevent the disease from spreading. In Europe major
cities in Spain but also the capital city of France will further tighten health
safety measures as of Monday. Even a viable vaccine against the coronavirus won’t
be able to get life back to its normal track next spring, British scientists
have warned. Over 200 vaccines against COVID-19 are being developed by
scientists around the world at unprecedented speed, the BBC reports.

LEGISLATIVE ELECTION – Bucharest is today playing host to a press
conference devoted to the organization of the legislative election abroad, held
by Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu and other officials representing the
Permanent Electoral Authority. So far, Malta and Nigeria are the only countries
that cannot set up polls on their territory, Minister Aurescu announced on
Thursday. Bogdan Aurescu said there are states that traditionally host the
election only within the confines of Romania’s diplomatic missions, such as
Canada. On the other hand, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said the Government
will be running an awareness-raising campaign addressing Romanian in the
Diaspora, to inform them as to their possibility to vote by post in the
legislative election due in December, in those countries where voting polls
will not be set up due to health safety restrictions.

FOTOBALL – Romanian champions CFR Cluj have qualified for the second
year in a row to the Europa League playoffs after defeating on Thursday evening
KuPS Kuopio of Finland 3-1 at home. The draw for the Europa League group phase is
today being held in Nyon, Switzerland.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, world no. 2 and seeded
first at Roland Garros, is today playing Amanda Anisimova of the United States
(29 WTA) in the third round at the Paris Open. Halep last year lost to
Anisimova in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, 6-2, 6-4. Also today, in the
women’s doubles, Monica Niculescu of Romania and Misaki Doi of Japan are
playing Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, while the
Romanian pair Andreea Mitu – Patricia Tig are playing Varvara Gracheva of
Russia and Jasmine Paolini of Italy. In the men’s doubles, Horia Tecău and Jean-Julien Rojer of
the Netherlands are today playing Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Jonny
O’Mara of Great Britain.

(Translated by V. Palcu)