September 22, 2021 UPDATE
A news update
Newsroom, 22.09.2021, 19:50
Covid -19 – The Romanian Prime Minister Florin Cîţu announced that, starting on September 28, the third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine will start being administered in Romania for all the persons who were vaccinated with the second dose more than 6 months ago. The 3rd dose will be with a messenger RNA vaccine, regardless of the type of the initial doses. 7,045 cases of COVID-19 were reported on Wednesday out of about 54,000 tests. This is the highest daily figure this year. 130 COVID patients have died in the last 24 hours. More than one thousand people are hospitalized in intensive care. The capital Bucharest and three counties of Romania entered the red scenario after exceeding the threshold of three cases per thousand inhabitants. We remind you that in those localities where the infection rate is over 3 per thousand, but does not exceed 6 per thousand, access to restaurants, performance halls or private events is allowed only on the basis of the green COVID certificate. The Romanian College of Physicians calls on the population to understand the impact and consequences which the infection with the new coronavirus can have and asks the authorities to find correct and applicable solutions as soon as this is possible, to limit the disease. The college warns that the high contamination rate means increased pressure on hospitals. The College of Physicians also continues to support the voice of scientists internationally, saying that vaccination is one of the most handy and effective tools to fight the pandemic.
Investigation – The Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors are looking into the procurement of Covid vaccines, amid suspicions of abuse of office and obtaining undue benefits. Nobody is officially under charges as yet. The incumbent finance minister Dan Vîlceanu says he has no information regarding the procurement of Covid vaccines outside the mechanism created by the European Commission and for prices negotiated at EU level. The former health minister Vlad Voiculescu claims however that based on the decision of PM Florin Cîțu, Romania ordered too many doses and was subsequently forced to sell or donate some of them.
UN – In New York, the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, addressed the heads of state and government of the more than 100 countries participating in the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly. In his speech, Klaus Iohannis stressed the importance of an international order based on rules. During the Transforming action for nature and people event, organized on the sidelines of the General Assembly, he underlined that, in combating climate change and biodiversity loss, international cooperation is essential. “Lets work together to protect biodiversity by sharing knowledge, technology and financial resources. I invite you to mobilize new financing sources for nature, to support and reward the providers of ecosystem services “, the President of Romania added.
Ordinance — The Romanian government on Wednesday adopted an emergency ordinance to implement the Caring for Children program. State Councilor Mădălina Turza, the program coordinator, has recently stated that the program aims to provide free counseling for children affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, to provide training sessions for teachers and other specialists, introduce in the Masters in Teaching degree programs a compulsory module for the development of psycho-emotional skills, the introduction in the school curriculum of topics related to the management of emotions and the management of relationships with other children. The program also aims to hire more than one thousand psychologists for marginalized schools. The state councilor also said that the project will run for 2 years and will have a budget of almost 6 million Euros.
City Insurance Investigation — Romanian anti-mafia prosecutors will investigate, at the request of the shareholders in the ‘City Insurance’ company, the way in which the company was administered. The shareholders filed a criminal complaint with the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crimes and Terrorism – DIICOT and accuse the Romanian employees, who managed City Insurance, of forming an organized crime group, of fraud and embezzlement. Investigations by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate – DNA could also begin, following criminal complaints filed by the Financial Supervisory Authority, even before City Bank bankruptcy is asked. Meanwhile, the government on Wednesday adopted an emergency ordinance amending the law on the Insured Guarantee Fund, following the companys insolvency. “I want to make sure that all those who have reported losses, do not suffer from this bankruptcy,” said the PM Florin Citu. City Insurance was a market leader, with nearly three million car insurance policies issued.
Tennis — The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, former world number one and currently ranked 14th in the WTA rankings, announced the end of her collaboration with Australian coach Darren Cahill. Trained by him, Halep won her first Grand Slam title, in 2018, at Roland Garros, and finished two consecutive years on the first place in the WTA rankings, in 2017 and 2018. In March 2019, Simona Halep announced her collaboration with the Romanian coach Daniel Dobre, who trained her to win the title at Wimbledon in July. In 2020, she resumed training with Darren Cahill. Halep faced a number of injuries this season, one of which kept her away from tennis from May to August, failing to participate in the Roland Garros and Wimbledon tournaments, as well as in the Tokyo Olympics, which led to her exit from the top 10. She announced that she would participate again this season in the tournaments in Indian Wells, Moscow and Cluj. Simona Halep, who turns 30 on September 27, got married last week. (LS)
