February 9, 2021
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 09.02.2021, 13:55
BUDGET BILL – The state budget for 2021 has been finalized and will be made public on Wednesday. The budget is based on a 7% deficit of the GDP. The Government plans to cut back on spending in order to reach this target. Consequently, holiday vouchers will be slashed this year as well as 30% of the political parties’ funding, while inefficient state companies will no longer be subsidized. Pensions will not be raised starting the 1st of January, 2022. Child benefits will not go up this year either. The budget bill may be passed by the Government next week and is likely to be endorsed by Parliament by the 20th of February.
VACCINE — Another 28 hundred infections with the novel coronavirus have been reported in the last 24 hours in Romania. Almost 750 thousand infections have been reported in the country since the onset of the pandemic and over 19 thousand people have died. Almost 1 thousand people are in intensive care. The vaccination campaign continues in Romania. Over 662 thousand people have been immunized so far, most of them with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. A new batch of over 128 thousand doses has been delivered to Romania today and distributed to vaccination centers across the country. Another batch is to be received on February 15. The Moderna vaccine has started to also be used in Romania for a week. A first batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine has also been delivered to Romania and will be used to immunize people aged 18 to 55.
TRUMP – The United States Senate is today starting the historic impeachment trial of the former Republican President Donald Trump, for his alleged “incitement of insurrection” in relation to the assault on the US Capitol on the 6th of January, in which five people were killed. The Democrats say there is clear evidence against Trump while his lawyers say the opposite. Trump became the first president to be impeached twice.. A year ago he was first impeached, for putting pressure on Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden’s family. He was eventually acquitted by the Senate. Analysts say that by impeaching Trump, the Democrats want to prevent him from holding any public position in the future, including from running for a second presidential mandate in 2024.
WARNING — The Bucharest Foreign Ministry has warned Romanian citizens transiting or planning to travel to Spain that orange and yellow code alerts for storms, blizzard, heavy snowfalls and wind are in place for several regions of the country. The Foreign Ministry has advised citizens to closely monitor weather information and observe the Spanish authorities’ recommendations. Also, the Foreign Ministry reminds Romanian citizens travelling abroad that the ’Călătoreşte în siguranţă app, available at http://www.mae.ro/app_cs , offers updated information and travel advice.
FIRE — Another two patients have died following the fire at the Matei Bals Hospital in Bucharest, on the 29th of January, bringing the death toll to 17, the Health Ministry has announced today. The Bucharest Tribunal announced on Friday that investigations at the site ended. The procedure of identifying the corpses was also completed. As many as 33 people have been heard so far in relation with the fire. A similar tragedy took place in November at the emergency hospital in Piatra Neamt, where ten patients died. (EE)
