May 19, 2020
A roundup of news from Romania and the world
Newsroom, 19.05.2020, 13:55
Coronavirus Romania — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is having 2 meetings today with government members on measures aimed at managing the COVID-19 pandemic. The death toll is Romania has reached 1126. According to the authorities, the total number of contaminations has exceeded 17,100, with almost 10,100 patients having recovered from the infection. As many as 3,000 Romanian citizens from abroad have been infected with COVID-19, mostly in Italy, Spain and Germany and 103 have died, especially in Great Britain, Italy and France.
COVID-19 World — The alert system for outbreaks used by the World Health Organization should be revised given that some states have reacted more slowly to the coronavirus outbreak, show the conclusions of a first report issued by an independent committee that analyzed the way in which the WHO acted in the case of the coronavirus pandemic, DPA reports. Around the world, almost 4.9 million people have been contaminated with the new virus, 1.9 million have recovered and over 320,000 have died. The US is the hardest hit country of the world with 90,000 deaths and almost 1.5 million cases of contamination. Brazil comes 3rd after the US and Russia in the ranking of countries hardest hit by the COVID-19 virus. In Europe the highest number of cases has been reported in the UK, Italy, France and Spain. Meanwhile, the EU states continue to gradually lift restrictions.
Border check points — Traffic congestion is still reported at the Nadlac checkpoint in western Romania. Over the past days, tens of thousands of Romanians have entered Romania through the border checkpoints between Hungary and Romania, with the social distancing rules having been infringed. The health minister Nelu Tataru has warned of the danger caused by the situation and of the risk of the emergence of new coronavirus hotbeds, since many of the people entering Romania come from the former red zones. Also, the Romanian authorities say that, following talks with the Hungarian authorities, measures have been taken to avoid congestion and the number of checkpoints has been increased. The Border Police has announced that they are now working at full capacity in the 5 open checkpoints at Romania’s western border.
Berlin — The Romanian labor minister Violeta Alexandru is a working visit to Germany. The agenda of her visit includes talks with German officials and the representatives of the German Farmers’ Union, as well as visits at the asparagus farms in the State of Brandenburg. Earlier during her visit to Germany, labor minister Violeta Alexandru met with the representatives of the Faire Mobilitat Project, the talks focusing on the main problems faced by the Romanian citizens working in Germany. The discussion approached aspects related to the labor legislation and the contractual conditions, as well as to the support this organization’s counseling centers provide to the Romanian citizens through the Faire Mobilitat counseling network. The Romanian official has asked for clarifications regarding the Romanian citizens’ labor contacts, the period of notice on termination of employment, the way of reimbursing the employees’ travel to and from the work place, their medical insurance, accommodation conditions and so on.
Economic recovery — The French President Emmanuel Macron and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel have proposed an economic recovery plan worth 500 billion Euros for the EU countries affected by the coronavirus crisis which has caused an unprecedented recession in Europe — shows a common statement of the two leaders who had a video-conference on Monday. Angela Merkel has pointed out that the countries hardest hit by the crisis should benefit from these funds with priority. In turn, the French President has said that the countries receiving aid are not obliged to reimburse the money. The president of the EC Ursula von der Leyen and the president of the European Council Charles Michel have hailed the announcement. The economic recovery plan is based on several pillars among which health, environmental protection and digital development. (tr. L. Simion)
