October 29, 2021

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 29.10.2021, 13:55

Covid-19. Almost 127,000 people got
the Covid jab in Romania over the previous 24 hours, of whom over 90,000 were
given their first dose. Over 1.6 million people are now fully vaccinated in
this country. The pace of the vaccination campaign has picked up recently and the
authorities are hoping to see a 70% immunisation
rate among its population over the age of 12 by the end of the year if the
current rate is maintained. Almost 12,500 new cases were reported today, as
well as 481 deaths. A medical team from Germany is arriving today in Romania to
assess Romanian Covid patients who may be flown to Germany for treatment. A
German air force plane will also be available on Monday for the evacuation of
patients. In another move, Romania has updated its list of countries with high
epidemiological risk, with the Netherlands and Russia moving to the red list. Malaysia, Cuba, Costa Rica, the
Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and
Jordan are now on the yellow list, while Palestine is on the green list.

Government. The leaders of the
National Liberal Party are meeting today to finalise the list of ministers in
the cabinet of prime minister designate Nicolae Ciucă, one day before the
deadline by which the latter may submit his cabinet to Parliament. According to
political sources, the Liberals have not given up on the idea of a minority
government together with the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania,
despite not having secured support in Parliament, neither from the Social
Democrats in opposition, nor their former government partner, the Save Romania
Union. President Klaus Iohannis last night held talks with the prime minister
designate and outgoing prime minister Florin Cîțu, but no official statement
was made. We recall that the political situation deteriorated in Romania after
the Save Romania Union left the coalition government and voted in favour of a
no-confidence motion initiated by the Social Democrats.

Winter time. Romania will move to
winter time on Saturday night, when clocks will shift back one hour, 4 am
becoming 3 am. 31st October is thus the longest day of the year,
with 25 hours. In winter, there is a two-hour difference between Romania time
and GMT, with the winter time being considered standard time. European countries
adopted the daylight saving time in the last century to save energy, especially
during war and the oil crises of the 1970s. Doctors say the clock shift may
affect the body negatively, especially in the case of children and the elderly,
and that it takes up to two weeks for a person to adjust to the time shift.

Recovery. Romania may send its
application for the disbursement of pre-financing under the National Recovery
and Resilience Plan, which on Thursday received the green light by EU finance
ministers. Romania is entitled to request 3.7 billion euros as advance payment
out of the 29.2 billion it has been earmarked in the form of grants and loans
and to be used by 2026 to stimulate the green and digital transition and build
a more resilient economy.

Energy. Romanian president Klaus
Iohannis today signed legislation on compensations for energy consumption which
ensures that Romanians won’t pay more in electricity and gas bills than last
December, despite the price hikes. The law provides for a support scheme for
home users, hospitals, schools, city halls and NGOs. SMEs will also benefit
from support in the form of the elimination of distribution and transport
costs. The measures apply from 1st November until March next year.

Tour. Romanian ambassador to the US Andrei Muraru begins a tour of
Romanian communities in the US entitled 50 States, One Community. The first
state he will visit is Ohio, one of the first destinations of the earliest
waves of the Romanian emigration. He will meet members of the Romanian
community in this state and visit the St Mary’s Romanian Orthodox Cathedral in
Cleveland, the oldest Romanian Orthodox parish in the US, and the Romanian
Cultural Garden, which opened in 1967 and forms part of Cleveland’s collection
of public gardens, each commemorating a different ethnic group. The tour by the
Romanian ambassador is aimed at encouraging the Romanian community in the US to
help advance Romania’s case with respect to the Visa Waiver program.

Handball. The men’s handball side Dinamo
Bucharest last night pulled off a surprising win at home against the strong
Hungarian side Telekom Veszprem, winning 31-29 in a Champions League Group B
match. This is Dinamo’s second group win against a team that played the
Champions League final four times, in 2002, 2015, 2016 and 2019. Dinamo will
play their next match away in Germany on 17th November against SG
Flensburg-Handewitt.

Tennis. The WTA Transylvania Open
tennis tournament continues in Cluj Napoca, in western Romania. The doubles
quarterfinals today will see an all-Romanian match between Monica Niculescu and
Gabriela Ruse and Irina Begu and Andreea Mitu. In the singles quarterfinals,
first seed Simona Halep will face another Romanian player, Jaqueline Cristian,
while the US Open champion Emma Răducanu will face Ukraine’s Marta Kostiuk. (CM)