16 July, 2020

A roundup of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 16.07.2020, 13:55

Quarantine. The Romanian Senate is debating
a bill regulating the conditions for quarantine and isolation. Prime minister
Ludovic Orban also plans to attend the debates. After days of negotiations and
delays, the senators in the legal committee eventually passed an amended
version of the bill late last night. The bill says that people who plan to
challenge the quarantine or isolation measure in court will be kept under
medical supervision and that the decision of the court of first instance in
this case is enforceable. Also, asymptomatic people confirmed to carry the
Covid-19 virus will be kept under medical supervision in hospital for 48 hours,
followed by isolation at home or another residential address for a further 14
days. Minors are to be isolated at the home of their family or legal guardians
or another address and it’s up to their families to check them into hospital.
The bill also stipulates that the medical staff cannot be posted for more than
30 days. The bill was initiated by the government after the Constitutional
Court ruled that isolation at home, quarantine and hospitalisation cannot be
imposed based on ministerial order as has been the case so far, even if the
persons in question are infected with the novel coronavirus. The Court ruled
instead that the restrictive measures must be based on a law that clearly
regulates them.

Economy. The pace of
world economic activity begins to pick up again after unprecedented decline
this year caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but a second major wave of
infections could cause further disruption, warned on Thursday the director
general of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva. She said the impact
of the measures to keep the pandemic in check and limit its economic
consequences led to an increase in the already high level of debt, but that it
is too early to start withdrawing the safety nets, as they are still needed.
The fiscal package worth 11,000 billion dollars adopted by the G20 and other
states, as well as the significant injections of liquidities by central banks
have helped stabilise world economy, but the danger is still there, warns Georgieva.
Last month, the International Monetary Fund again revised downwards its world
economic forecast for 2020, estimating a 4.9% contraction and a recovery level
below expectations next year.

Coronavirus toll.
Coronavirus infections pass 35,000 in Romania, with 777 new cases reported
today. More than 24,000 people have recovered and 1,971 have died. On
Wednesday, the government extended the state of alert for a further 30 days
amid a growing number of new infections. Globally, confirmed
coronavirus cases pass 13,4 million, with reported deaths nearing 580,000.
Brazil, Mexico and the US have seen the highest number of new deaths, while the
US saw a new record level of new cases. The US is currently the worst hit country
in the world, with at least 55,000 new cases a day. Elsewhere, India, Spain,
Portugal and Venezuela have reintroduced local restrictions after a spike in
the number of new cases.

Travel. Austria bans
direct regular flights from Romania and nine other states, such as Bulgaria,
the Republic of Moldova, states in the Western Balkans and Egypt, which are
considered states with a high coronavirus risk. The Romanian airliner Tarom has
also suspended flights to and from Austria until the end of the month. Certain
flights are not subject to the ban, such as flights carrying goods or those
conducted for medical reasons or for repatriation of persons and transport of
care staff and seasonal workers. 20
European countries, mostly in the EU, have imposed restrictions for travellers
from Romania. Greece requires a negative Covid-19 test when entering the
country on road. Since Wednesday, travellers to Hungary from Romania will be
tested for Covid-19 when crossing the border.

EU. Romanian president
Klaus Iohannis is attending a special meeting of the European Council on Friday
and Saturday in Brussels. Talks will focus on the EU multinannual budget for
the 2021-2027 period and the European plan for economic recovery. Iohannis is
expected to call for more significant funds for the cohesion policy and the
common agricultural policy and for additional funds for rural development.