October 30, 2020

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Newsroom, 30.10.2020, 14:06

COLECTIV Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has
today laid a wreath of flowers to the memory of the victims of the fire, which
five years ago destroyed the Colectiv night club in Bucharest. Also today the
president is expected to promulgate a law on the lifetime treatment for the
victims and a human chain is to be formed to their memory. 65 people lost their
lives in the blaze that ripped through the aforementioned nightclub during a
rock concert in Bucharest. Another 150 young people are still in need of treatment
five years on. Several people were apprehended by the police back then including
the club owners and representatives of the company that provided the fireworks
for the concert. The club owners were sent to court, but investigation procedures
dragged on for years. The file is now on at the Appeal Court in Bucharest with
a deadline set by December this year. Thousands took to the streets after the
tragedy five years ago disgruntled by the authorities’ lack of involvement. The
mass protests forced the Social-Democratic government of that time to step
down.

INS Unemployment stood at 5.2% in Romania in
September, slightly lower than a month before, the country’s institute for
statistics INS has today announced. The number of unemployed men was 1.1%
higher than women. Against the gradual resumption of activities, following the
restrictions aimed at containing the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of
unemployed in September stood at 471 thousand as compared to 479 thousand in
August. However, according to the same sources, the number of unemployed is
still high above the value registered in the same period last year, of 368
thousand.

FUNDS The EU is to earmark 220 million euros for
the transfer of Covid-infected patients from one country to another, the head
of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday following a
videoconference of EU leaders to discuss the present health crisis. A platform
will be created allowing experts to provide counselling to national
governments, share the best methods and scientific recommendations and also to
avoid contradictory messages. Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has made an
appeal for the coordination of all efforts to deal with the health crisis and
has called for additional funds to be able to rely on more procurement sources of
the future vaccines.

COVID-19 Romania’s Health Minister Nelu Tataru has
cautioned that there are 3-4 difficult weeks ahead for Romania, during which
the authorities are trying to curb the number of Covid -19 infections so that
they may reach a ceiling. According to him, authorities rely on 15 hundred IC
units where those infected are benefitting from the same treatments like those
abroad. Over 6,540 new infections were confirmed on Thursday and another 103 new
fatalities were reported. Out of more than 11 thousand patients hospitalized, 917
are in a severe condition and the situation is worrying in capital Bucharest,
where 900 new cases have been reported. Since the onset of the pandemic, the novel
coronavirus has killed 6,867 people in Romania.
According to Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, the authorities are trying to
identify the local causes favouring the spread of the coronavirus. Orban says
the government isn’t yet considering additional measures to impose in Romania.

FOOTBALL Romania’s football champions CFR Cluj on
Thursday ended in a one-all draw their match against Swiss side Young Boys
Bern. The match counted towards the Europa League’s Group A. In the same group,
the match pitching AS Rome against CSKA Sofia of Bulgaria ended in a goaless
draw. In the first matches last week, CFR clinched a 2-0 win in Sofia and Rome
a 2-1 victory in Bern. CFR, which was eliminated from the Champions League, is
Romania’s only representative in this year’s edition of Europa League.

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