January 12, 2021
Some of the main stories in Romania today.
Newsroom, 12.01.2021, 13:55
Coronavirus
Romania. Almost 3,700 new coronavirus cases and 156 new deaths were reported
today in Romania, which
has recorded almost 680,000 cases and 16,881 deaths since the start of the
outbreak. The
government is meeting today to discuss extending the state of alert by a
further thirty days. No changes to the current restrictions are being
considered. Ski slopes will remain open, provided physical distancing rules are
respected.
Schools. Most children and teachers want to go
back to in-person learning, according to an opinion poll conducted by World
Vision Romania. Most of them are, however, worried about the gaps in learning
and the large amount of work children have to catch up with. Children went back
to school on Monday after the winter break, but classes are still held online.
The authorities would like to resume in-person learning on 8th
February, when the new semester starts, but this depends on the infection rate,
explained education minister Sorin Cîmpeanu.
Immunity. The World Health Organisation has
warned that herd immunity will not be achieved this year despite wide-scale
roll out of vaccination, urging people to continue to respect physical
distancing rules, wash their hands and wear face masks. The Organisation has
welcomed the news that China authorised the visit by a team of international
experts to investigate the origin of the novel coronavirus. We look forward to
working closely with our [Chinese] counterparts on this critical mission to
identify the virus source and its route of introduction to human population,
the director general of the World Health Organisation, dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
posted on social media. In another development, France is worried about the
discovery in a number of cities of new cases of contamination with the British
variant of the virus. The French government is considering new restrictions in
parallel with the vaccination campaign. Global coronavirus cases surpass 91.3
million and almost 2 million people have died.
Protest. Healthcare trade union federation
Sanitas today begins a series of actions to support healthcare and social
assistance workers unhappy with a government order freezing salaries and
pensions this year. Trade union members picketed prefectures around the country
and the Sanitas Bucharest branch has picketed the government headquarters.
There are also plans to picket the headquarters of the health, labour and
finance ministries and Parliament during the latter’s debates of the state
budget bill. Trade unions say they are planning to send an open letter to the
president and the members of the Romanian Parliament and the European
Parliament warning that Romania is the only country in Europe to diminish the
incomes of the public sector employees directly involved in the fight against
the pandemic.
Corruption. The National
Anticorruption Directorate is asking the Prosecutor General’s Office to request
the green light from president Klaus Iohannis for the criminal prosecution of
former prime minister Călin
Popescu Tăriceanu, who is accused of bribe taking in 2007 and 2008, during his
term in office. Prosecutors say he indirectly received from an Austrian company
material benefits worth 800,000 dollars consisting in consultancy services. In
exchange, Tăriceanu pushed for the adoption by his cabinet of decisions that
benefitted this company. At the request of the National Anticorruption
Directorate, the Senate was asked in November 2018 to approve the prosecution
of Tăriceanu, who was a
senator at the time, for bribe taking, but the Senate refused in June 2019.
Prosecutors are now saying they have additional evidence and new elements have
appeared in the case.
Trip. Maia
Sandu, the new pro-western president of the Republic of Moldova, is today
making her first official trip abroad after taking office. She is visiting the
neighbouring Ukraine at the invitation of her counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. The relations
between Moldova and Ukraine were strained between 2016 and 2020 during the term
of Moldova’s former pro-Russian president of Igor Dodon, who was defeated by
Maia Sandu in the November elections. The first top level foreign official to
be received by Sandu was Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis on 29th
December. The two signed a joint declaration aimed at consolidating the
bilateral strategic partnership.
Car sales. Sales of new cars dropped
by 22.6% in Romania in 2020 compared with the previous year, despite new
registrations growing in the last four months of 2020, while the sale of
ecological cars grew by 103.5%, according to a report published today by the
Association of Car Makers and Importers (APIA). December saw the highest number
of new registrations, with more than 18,000 cars, commercial vehicles, buses and
minibuses being registered. (CM)
