July 16, 2021 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 16.07.2021, 19:58

COVID-19. Romania added Spain, Portugal and the
Netherlands on the red list of countries with a high infection risk, while
Greece, one of the most sought-after tourist destinations this summer is on the
yellow list. Tourists who have been fully vaccinated will not be asked to
self-isolate upon their return to Romania irrespective of the region they come
from. Unvaccinated travelers arriving from the red list countries must self-isolate
for 14 days, while those arriving from the yellow list countries must produce a
negative PCR test result conducted within the previous 72 hours in order to
avoid isolation. The National Committee for Emergency Situations has approved a
60-day pilot project involving the use of trained dogs for detecting those
infected with Covid-19. 72 new infections from over 26,000 tests and two new
deaths were reported in Romania on Friday, while 53 Covid patients are in
intensive care. Since the beginning of mass vaccination in this country at the
end of December last year, more than 4.7 million people have been fully
vaccinated, but the authorities are looking for ways to improve the pace of
vaccination.

Visit. European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety
Stella Kyriakides said on Friday in Petreşti, Dâmboviţa county, that Romania must do more to step
up vaccination because the Delta variant is creating a fragile and dangerous
situation. Together with Romanian health minister Ioana Mihăilă, she paid a visit
to a mobile vaccination centre in southern Romania.

Floods. Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on Friday conveyed
a message of condolence to his German counterpart Frank-Walter
Steinmeier, in the wake of the catastrophic floods that caused immense damages
in the west of Germany in recent days and regrettable losses of human lives,
with hundreds of people missing or injured. President Iohannis also expressed
the solidarity and compassion of Romania and the Romanian people with Germany
and their confidence in the ability of the communities affected to recover.
More than 100 people died in Germany in heavy rains and floods, in the highest
death toll seen by Germany in one tragedy in recent decades. Others have also
died or are missing in Belgium because of storms, and the authorities have put
up tents for those who had to flee their homes. The Netherlands also saw
significant material damage, where thousands have left their homes. Storms also
hit north-eastern France and Luxembourg. Experts blame these phenomena on
climate change.

Education. Pupils from all over the world can enroll
for the first interactive online international high school in Romania due to open
in Cluj Napoca this autumn. On graduation, pupils will receive
Cambridge-accredited diplomas. The high school has a British model and will
operate in a hybrid system, with pupils attending online courses and interacting
with each other in person during camps. The idea to set up such a school came
during the pandemic, when the founders realised the importance of such an institution
in Romania. Cambridge-accredited diplomas are recognised in over 150 countries,
Romania included, so students can easily go to university in various countries
around the world.

Infringement.
The European Commission has started the infringement procedure in the case of
Romania and four other EU member states in areas such as justice, social rights
and financial stability. Romania has two months to incorporate into its
national legislation the provisions requested by the Commission. The
shortcomings identified refer, among others, to the right of a person detained
based on a European arrest warrant to have access to a lawyer. Romania is also
asked to respect provisions on the posting of workers, especially those
referring to combating fraud and evasion of rules, access to information and
administrative cooperation with other EU member states.

Football. CS Universitatea Craiova will play the Albanian
side KF Laçi, Sepsi OSK Sfântu Gheorghe will play the
Slovakian side Spartak Trnava, while the Romanian vice-champions FCSB will face
the Kazakh side Shakhter Karagandy in the
second qualifying round of the newly created football tournament, Europa
Conference League. The first round is scheduled for 22nd July and
the return match for the 29th. (CM)