September 12, 2021
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 12.09.2021, 15:57
Covid-19RO. Some 2,250 new cases of coronavirus infection have been reported in Romania today, in 33,200 tests, the Strategic Communication Group has announced. 29 Covid-19 related deaths have also been reported. At least 4,800 infected people are currently hospitalized, of which 600 in intensive care. So far, 5.2 million people have been fully vaccinated in Romania, which accounts for about one third of the eligible population.
School. Almost 3 million pupils and preschoolers will return to classes in Romania on Monday. The new school year has 34 weeks, is divided into two semesters and ends on June 11, 2022. The Minister of Education, Sorin Cîmpeanu, has announced that, on the first day of school, festivities will be allowed in which parents can participate, provided they wear a mask and keep a safe distance from other participants. But there are also children who will not be able to go to school physically, as several towns and villages have exceeded the COVID-19 infection rate by 6 cases per one thousand inhabitants. Also, 2,400 pupils will not be able to physically participate in ceremonies marking the start of the new school year. Sorin Cîmpeanu has voiced hope that important progress will be made in vaccinating pupils after school starts, as the relevant authorities can organize mobile teams, which will bring immunization closer to schools.
Moldova. The Republic of Moldova is faced with one of the highest rates of new cases of Covid-19 and related deaths, Radio Chisinau reports. Over the past week, the number of new cases has increased by 43 percent and the number of related deaths has doubled. On the other hand, France, which is among the leading European countries in terms of vaccination, with more than 80% of the population over the age of 12 already vaccinated, is preparing to implement new measures to combat the epidemic as of next week. Starting September 13, a new vaccination campaign starts for the administration of a third dose, first in the centers for the elderly, as their residents were the first to be vaccinated at the beginning of the year. Countries around the world are currently considering administering vaccines to children, while pharmaceutical companies, including Moderna, are trying to get the green light for the use of its anti-COVID-19 serum in adolescents. Pfizer, whose COVID-19 vaccine is already being administered to teenagers, has started testing the vaccine in younger children. Globally, there have been at least 224 million cases of infection with the new coronavirus and more than 4.6 million related deaths, according to worldometers.
Visit. Pope Francis has arrived in Budapest today. Before the mass, during the few hours he will spend in the Hungarian capital, the Pope will meet with President János Áder and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose views regarding issues such as migration and the rights of the LGBT community he has opposed on several occasions. The Sovereign Pontiff is in Budapest for the closing service of the 52nd Eucharistic Congress, which is attended by over 75,000 believers from around the world. Also today, Pope Francis will head for Bratislava. The Sovereign Pontiffs first day in Slovakia includes two meetings with church representatives, and, in the evening, a fraternal discussion with the Jesuits in that country. Pope Francis visit to Slovakia ends on Wednesday, when Catholic believers celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
Festival. The George Enescu International Festival continues in Romania. Today, the Bremen Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra will perform on the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest opuses by Richard Strauss and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Conducting will be Jeremy Roller. Tonights concert will feature the famous German soprano Diana Damrau. Also today, a recital of pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach will be given in Sibiu (center) by the famous violinist Gil Shaham. The Cluj Napoca orchestra and opera choir, under the baton of conductor David Crescenzi, will present to the public the opera Macbeth, by Giuseppe Verdi. The 2021 edition of the Festival is the 25th and celebrates 140 years since the birth of the great Romanian composer George Enescu. Russian conductor Vladimir Jurowski is once again the artistic director of the festival. In total, 32 orchestras from 14 countries perform at this years edition of the George Enescu Festival. Radio Romania, with its musical groups and audio specialists, is, together with the Romanian Television, co-producer of the George Enescu International Festival.
Untold. The sixth edition of the largest electronic music festival in Europe, Untold, ends today in Cluj Napoca, north-western Romania. Over 200 DJs and artists have participated in this event, after almost two years of break. In total, more than 100,000 people attended the events organized during the festival, which began on Thursday. This year, the organizers tried to combine electronic music with traditional tunes. Untold gathers every year the most important DJs in the world. This year, in Cluj-Napoca were present, among others, David Guetta, DJ Snake, Afrojack, Martin Garrix, Nina Kravitz and Paul Kalkbrenner.
Tennis. The British teenager of Romanian descent, Emma Răducanu (18 years old), won the US Open 2021, after, on Saturday, in the final, she defeated the Canadian Leylah Fernandez (19 years old), 6-4, 6- 3. Emma won the prestigious American tournament without losing a set and coming from qualifications, something that has never happened in the history of tennis. The US Open was Emmas second participation in a Grand Slam tournament, after the one at Wimbledon, where she had to give up in the round of 16, due to medical problems. Emma, born to a Romanian father and an Asian mother, has thus secured a 2.5 million USD check and has jumped from the 150th to the 23rd position in the WTA rankings. (MI)
