March 27, 2020
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 27.03.2020, 13:55
COVID-19 ROMANIA The Romanian PM Ludovic Orban has today stated, after a meeting at the Health Ministry, that the fight against the new coronavirus will maintain its direction, and the main goal is to protect the health and lives of the Romanian citizens. On Wednesday night, 45 tonnes of medical equipment came from South Korea. So far, 24 people have died from Covid-19 in Romania. According to the Strategic Communication Group, 1292 cases of infection have been reported in Romania. 94 people have been cured and discharged from hospital. Abroad, 11 Romanian citizens have died of Covid-19, eight in Italy, two in France and one in Great Britain. This evening, some 300 Romanian citizens, left unemployed and with no housing in the regions of Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia Romagna, will be brought back to the country by plane and will be placed in institutionalized quarantine for at least two weeks.
LOANS In Romania, people with bank loans can benefit, upon request, from a postponement of payments of up to nine months, but no later than December 31st, 2020, the Finance Minister Florin Citu has announced. According to an ordinance passed by the Government, the measure benefits those debtors whose incomes have been affected, directly or indirectly, by the pandemic. They can file a request to that end, at the bank, until the end of the state of emergency in Romania, at the latest. Florin Citu has stated that the norms of application are to be published within 15 days since the passing of the ordinance. Also, the Government has decided, under an emergency decree, to change the status of police and military staff. Measures were taken to ensure hierarchical discipline and the presence of all the necessary staff, who can no longer benefit from leave of absence or early retirement during this period.
PANDEMIC More than half a billion people around the world have tested positive for the new coronavirus, and some 24 thousand have died of Covid-19. The US now ranks first with some 86 thousand cases of contamination. The US President Donald Trump has stated, after a talk with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, that the US and China are “working closely together” in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. China, where the outbreak had its debut back in December, has announced it closes its borders for foreign nationals in order to avoid a second wave of contamination. The most serious situation continues to be that of Italy. Five weeks into the pandemic, Italy has reported more than 80 thousand cases. More than 8 thousand people have died.
EUROPOL The number of crimes has rapidly increased since the Covid-19 pandemic was first declared, given that criminals and organized crime groups have been adapting fast to the new circumstances, warns Europol in a report published in the Hague today. Investigators have seen an increase in the number of cases of cybercrime, fraud, theft and forgery. The report indicates a considerable increase in the sales of counterfeit goods, in particular protective masks, disinfectants and medicines. Also, Europol anticipates a rapid increase in the fraud rate. “Fraudsters have been very quick to adapt well-known fraud schemes to target individual citizens, businesses and public organizations” the report reads.
STATISTICS More than a half of the EU citizens aged 16 to 74 have (53%) have stated they searched last year for online information about injuries, diseases, nutrition, health care, etc. Among the member states, the lowest shares of people looking for medical information on the internet were reported in Bulgaria (30%) and Romania (31%), according to data published by Eurostat today. At the opposite pole, the highest interest in such online information was reported in Finland (76%). Other member states where the interest is also high are the Netherlands, Cyprus, Denmark and Germany.
EMPLOYMENT In the fourth quarter of 2019, the unemployment rate in Romania went up to 3.9%, by 0.1% more than in the previous quarter, according to data published today by the National Institute of Statistics. The highest level, 18.5%, was registered among young people aged 15 to 24. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the employment rate for the 20-64 age bracket was 71.1%, by 1.1% more than the 70% target set under the Europe 2020 Strategy. In the same period of time, Romanias active population comprised 9.008 million people, of whom 8.654 million people employed and 354 thousand unemployed.
WTD March 27 is World Theatre Day. This year, because of the pandemic, all theatres are closed in Romania, but even so, theatre lovers can watch lots of online performances, broadcast live or recorded. World Theatre Day was initiated in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute in Vienna and has been celebrated ever since. (M.Ignatescu)
