April 2, 2020

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 02.04.2020, 14:00

EMERGENCY DECREE – At
midnight, local time, a new Government emergency decree takes effect,
increasing fines for anyone who doesn’t observe the special measures taken to
limit the spread of the coronavirus. According to the latest toll, 94 people
have died to the virus nationwide. Moreover, according the Group for Strategic
Communication, a total number of 196 Romanian citizens abroad have tested
positive for the virus: 105 in Spain, 57 in Italy, 14 in France, 7 in Germany,
4 in the UK, 2 in Namibia, 2 in Indonesia, and 1 each in Tunisia, Ireland,
Luxemburg, Belgium and the US. As many as 24 Romanian citizens died from the coronavirus
abroad: 9 in Italy, 6 in France, 4 in the UK, 4 in Spain and 1 in Germany. On
Wednesday, President Klaus Iohannis chaired a meeting which assessed and
presented public safety and order measures aimed at preventing the spread of
the coronavirus. The President warned that anyone who doesn’t abide by the
legislation, emergency decrees and regulations will be fined. Since the onset
of the state of emergency the authorities have carried out 870,000 checks and
handed out over 78,000 fines.

ECONOMY – The automobile industry wants to help the national
economy and contribute to the production of medical equipment, such as masks,
protection gear and biocides, Economy Minister Virgil Popescu has said. The
Romanian official went on to say that representatives of the automobile
industry will take part in a national project aimed at building ventilators
needed to trick the COVID-19 sick. On the other hand, Minister Popescu said
representatives of the Dacia carmaker are working on a scenario to resume
production towards the second half of April. Due to the pandemic Dacia has
suspended its activity at the power plant in Mioveni until April 5, with over
13,500 workers becoming technically unemployed.

EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS – Over
950,000 employment contracts at national level have been suspended starting
April 1, the Labor Ministry has announced. Some 207,000 employees in the
manufacturing industry, 156,000 people working in retail and car services and
over 110,000 workers in the hospitability sector are now technically
unemployed. Over 155,000 individual employment agreements have been terminated,
most of which in trade and services, the manufacturing industry and
constructions. The authorities recall that as of Wednesday people can apply for
technical unemployment benefits.

WARNINGS – The number of confirmed
infections with the COVID-19 virus might reach 1 million, with the death toll
possibly exceeding the 50,000 mark, the World Health Organization president
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said. The WHO official expressed concern with
the swift growth of the number of coronavirus infections. Over the past
five weeks, we have witnessed a near exponential growth in the number of new
cases, reaching almost every country.The
number of deaths has more than doubled in the past week, the WHO president
went on to say. In another development, experts with the World Health
Organization and the World Trade Organization (WTC) have warned against food
shortage risks on global markets due to disruptions in the supply and
production chain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. International bodies express
concern over the slowdown in the circulation of workers in the agricultural and
food industries, which is blocking agricultural works in numerous Western
countries and causing border crossing delays in the transport of merchandise,
which in turn leads to a waste of perishable foodstuffs. Experts have also
highlighted the need to protect workers from the agri-food sector and those in
the distribution chain, so as to minimize the spread of the virus and maintain
supply chains open.

NATO – Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is today attending a
video-conference of NATO foreign ministers. The meeting will look into ways of
dealing with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on NATO’s actions.
The agenda for talks will also focus on threats coming the southern vicinity,
the process of strategic reflection on consolidating NATO politics as well as
security developments in the Euro-Atlantic area. The meeting bears special
significance for Northern Macedonia, being the first time this country takes
part as an Ally state, the number of NATO members thus reaching 30. NATO should
make sure that the COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t endanger the security of its
allies, as threats haven’t miraculously disappeared, NATO Secretary General
Jens Stoltenberg has warned.

(Translated by V. Palcu)