7 April, 2021 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 07.04.2021, 20:00

Covid-19 update.
More than 5,400 new Covid cases were confirmed on Wednesday in Romania, with
most new infections being reported in Bucharest. Also, another 175
Covid-related fatalities were recorded. Almost 14,000 people are treated in
hospitals, of whom 1,487 in intensive care. The Covid immunisation campaign is
under way in Romania, with over 2.1 million people having received at least one
dose of the vaccine.

Relaxation. The Romanian government has approved the creation of an
inter-ministerial committee on the return to normality from 1st June
and which will establish the measures in the first phase of relaxation, prime
minister Florin Cîţu said. He emphasised, however, that this will only be
possible if as many people as possible have the Covid vaccine. He said a second
phase of relaxation is being considered for the end of July, by which time ten
million Romanians should have already been given the vaccine. Cîţu explained
that restrictions will be lifted in the reverse order in which they were
introduced. He added that a national lockdown is not being considered, but that
the state of alert will be extended.

Public health. The
coronavirus pandemic came at a difficult time for the Romanian healthcare
system, said president Klaus Iohannis in Bucharest at an event on climate
change organised by the World Health Organisation. He emphasised that no
economy or society, regardless of their level of development, was truly
prepared to cope effectively with a crisis of this magnitude. He stressed that
vaccination is the only instrument capable to halt the pandemic. He warned that
the affects of climate change on public health are severe and will become
extremely so unless we do something to combat them. The World Health
Organisation regional director for Europe Hans Kluge, who also attended the
event, said Romania is a positive example for the region in how it handled the
Covid pandemic, diminishing its effects by means of efficient coordination
between institutions, the solidarity of the entire community and the heroic
dedication of healthcare workers. He said he was glad his country, Belgium,
recognised the merits of a Romanian doctor, Cătălin Denciu, declaring him the
hero of 2020. At the end of last year, Denciu was seriously injured in a fire
at an intensive care unit of the Piatra Neamţ emergency hospital while trying
to save the lives of patients.

AstraZeneca.
The European Medicines Agency said on Wednesday that it found a potential link
between the Covid vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and rare blood clots in
adults who received this jab. The EU drug regulator said in a statement that a
plausible explanation for the combination of blood clots and low blood
platelets was an immune response, leading to a condition similar to one seen
sometimes in patients treated with heparin. The agency emphasises, however,
that the benefits outweigh the risks and that it found no specific risk
factors. Unusual blood clots should be listed as a very rare side effect of
the AstraZeneca vaccine, the European Medicines Agency also said.

Statistics. Life expectancy in the European Union dropped last year following
the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, thus interrupting a growing trend
recorded in recent decades, Eurostat announced on Wednesday. Spain saw the
biggest drop, with a loss of 1.6 years in 2020 compared with 2019, followed by
Bulgaria with 1.5 years, and Lithuania, Poland and Romania with 1.4 years. The
average life expectancy in the European Union in 2019 was 81.3 years.

Foreign trip. Romania and Italy constantly supported the need for a
strong, inclusive and closer to citizens Europe, said Romanian foreign minister
Bogdan Aurescu on Wednesday at a press conference held together with his
Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio in Rome. Aurescu reiterated Romania’s goal to
join the Organisation for European Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the
Schengen free movement area and thanked Italy for its constant support in these
efforts. The two officials also reiterated their countries’ support for a
consolidation of NATO’s role and its defence and deterrence component,
including on the eastern flank. Minister Di Maio again thanked Romania for its
solidarity last year, during the first wave of the pandemic, when it sent
medical teams to help Italian doctors. Italy is Romania’s second biggest trade
partner and home to a sizeable Romanian community numbering some 1.1 million members.

Weightlifting.
Romania’s Raluca Olaru won one gold and one bronze medal in the 71 kg category
at the European Weightlifting Championships hosted by Moscow. She won the gold
in the snatch event and the bronze in the overall category, with a total of 218
kg. Romania won 13 medals at this competition: seven gold, four silver and two
bronze. Other Romanian medal winners include Monica Suneta Csengeri, who won three
medals in the 49 kg category, and Loredana Toma, who also won three gold medals
in 64 kg category. (CM)