March 30, 2020
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 30.03.2020, 13:55
DECREE On Sunday night, the Romanian Government passed a new military decree aimed at combating the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the document, the prices of fuels and utilities must not grow during the state of emergency and the essential staff in the field will be isolated at their workplaces. The ordinance has also relaxed a bit the conditions for the elderly. Those aged over 65 are now allowed to leave their homes whenever they have medical needs, but are not allowed to use public transportation. Also, they are allowed to go out between 8 and 9 pm, not just between 11 am and 1 pm as before. Currently, Romanians are allowed to leave their homes only for strictly regulated reasons. On the other hand, the ordinance harshens penalties for those who do not observe the isolation or quarantine conditions. They will have to pay expenses for an extended 14 day quarantine period. The interior minister Marcel Vela has explained that the restrictive measures are necessary and will be relaxed or lifted only after the spread of the virus has been contained.
COVID-19 ROMANIA 1952 cases of coronavirus infection have been reported in Romania so far. 44 people have died of Covid-19 in the country. Some 10 thousand people are in quarantine, and 125 thousand in isolation. Also, official data shows that 180 patients have been cured. 16 Romanians died abroad because of the disease, mostly in Italy. The Romanian Health Minister Nelu Tataru has stated that he expects the peak of the outbreak to occur in mid April, when the number of infections might reach 10 thousand. The president of the Romanian Microbiology Society, Alexandru Rafila, has stated, in an interview on Radio Romania, that the number of infections will start to drop in May, after a maximum in late April. He has also said that an increase in the number of cases will be recorded again in autumn.
BANK LOANS The Liberal Government in Bucharest is going to clarify today the way in which people and companies in difficulty can use the latest emergency decree on the suspension of bank rates against the background of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the finance minister Florin Citu, debtors are allowed to postpone the payment of their due installments either for a month or two, or for a period of maximum nine months. He says that this is a brave and opportune measure, aimed to support the population. The minister has also stated that the decree is a unique measure in Europe and criticism that is actually meant to support the banks, not the citizens, is totally ungrounded. In turn, the Social Democrats, in the opposition, have announced they want to present in Parliament a bill requesting that those who resort to deferral until September do not pay interest on interest.
PANDEMIC More than 720 thousand people have been infected with the new coronavirus around the world, and the number of deaths is close to 34 thousand. Some 151 thousand people have been cured. 43% of the world population is urged or forced to stay at home. In the US, the country with the biggest number of cases, more than 142 thousand, the authorities have extended by one month the recommendation for social distancing. Italy still holds the death toll record: approximately 11 thousand. The second most infected European state is Spain, where the government has stopped any non-essential economic activity to curb the spread. Other European countries that have been hit severely by the pandemic are Germany, France, Great Britain and Switzerland.
TAROM The Romanian national airline TAROM has suspended its flights to and from Istanbul, Turkey, between March 30th – April 30th. The trips can be rescheduled for a later date and no additional fees will be charged. Last week, TAROM decided to also suspend, for at least 14 days, the flights to Germany and France, as well as its domestic flights. The measure does not apply to flights made with state aircraft, freight and mail, humanitarian or emergency medical flights, as well as non-commercial technical authorizations. We recall that in February, the European Commission approved a 36.5 million Euro loan to TAROM, which is facing a severe lack of liquidities because of the increase in its operating costs. (M.Ignatescu)
