August 12, 2021
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 12.08.2021, 13:50
EU certificate. Starting Friday, the digital certificate attesting anti-Covid vaccination, the negative result of a PCR test or that the holder has had the disease becomes mandatory upon crossing the border of an EU member country. Otherwise, individuals will have to to comply with the national quarantine rules of each state. The Strategic Communication Group in Bucharest has stated that the presentation of the document is provided in the European Regulation on digital certificates on vaccination designed to facilitate free movement during the pandemic, and the provisions are applicable only for crossing the state border. In Romania, the certificate can be downloaded by accessing the vaccinare-covid.gov.ro website.
Covid-19RO. Romania has again exceeded the threshold of 300 new cases of Covid-19 confirmed within 24 hours. 326 were reported yesterday, which is the highest figure since mid June. The number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals is also on the rise. The figure now stands at 710, of whom 96 are in serious condition, in ICUs. Another 8 related deaths were also reported. According to data made public by authorities, some 14,000 doses of vaccine were administered yesterday. There are some 4,957,000 Romanians now who have been fully immunized. Herd immunity stands at 50%, the coordinator of the national vaccination campaign, Valeriu Gheorghita, has announced.
Infrastructure. Almost 30% of Romanias localities are not connected to a water supply network, more than half have no sewerage, and almost three quarters do not benefit from a natural gas supply. These are the figures on which the draft of a Government Emergency Ordinance is based, by means of which 50 billion lei (about 10 billion euros) would be allocated in the next 6 years for infrastructure projects at local level. The money will also be used for the road infrastructure, given that less than half of the county roads are currently modernized. The data were presented by the Minister of Development, Attila Cseke, after Wednesdays meeting of the Executive, where the national investment program “Anghel Saligny” was discussed, a document which is currently under public debate.
Electricity. The heat wave that has hit Romania over the past weeks has led to an increase in domestic electricity consumption. The data provided by Transelectrica show that consumption is covered by imports, not by domestic production. In recent weeks, Romania has imported almost 1,000 megawatts per day. On the other hand, the data published today by the National Institute of Statistics show that in Romania, the final electricity consumption increased by 7% in the first six months of the year, compared to the similar period of 2020, amid an increase of 8, 3% of the populations consumption. More on this after the news.
Wildfires. Against the background of very high temperatures, wildfires continue to cause huge damage in several European countries and North Africa. Dozens of outbreaks are active in the southern continental regions and in Sicily, and in Greece nearly 100,000 hectares of land have been destroyed by flames in less than two weeks – the worst after the devastating fires of 2007. On the island of Evia, where Romanian firefighters have also been helping, but also in the Peloponnese, where new outbreaks are emerging, Greek and foreign firefighters are making titanic efforts to contain them. According to Radio Romanias correspondent in Greece, thousands of houses have turned into piles of rubble and tens of thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes and find refuge elsewhere. Thousands of jobs dependent on local tourism, agriculture and forestry have been lost. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis thanked President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday for the intervention of the Romanian firefighters, who responded promptly to the Greek authorities call. The Romanian head of state expressed Romanias solidarity with the Greek people in these difficult times, as well as compassion for all those affected by the devastating fires.
Taliban. The Taliban have today seized the city of Ghazni, 150 km southwest of Kabul, the tenth provincial capital to fall to insurgents within a week. This is the capital closest to Kabul to have been occupied by insurgents since the launch of their offensive in May, taking advantage of the start of the withdrawal of US and NATO forces, an operation that should be completed by late August. Ghazni is an important point on the major axis that connects Kabul to Kandahar, the second largest city in the south of Afghanistan. This allows insurgents to cut off the armys land supply lines to the south. They have already taken control of 10 of Afghanistans 34 provincial capitals, including seven in the north of the country, a region that has always resisted them in the past. The Kabul government is trying to counter a Taliban offensive in major cities in the south of the country, including Kandahar, where insurgents stormed the central prison on Wednesday and released the inmates. The capital Kabul could fall within the next three months, according to estimates made by the American intelligence services. Meanwhile, according to the few independent journalists still left in Afghanistan, the atrocities committed by the Taliban against civilians, including children, continue. At least 1,000 civilians have been killed in the past month.
FIFA. Belgium remains world no.1 in the rankings of the International Football Federation (FIFA), published today, followed by Brazil and France, which have switched places since Mays rankings. Romania has lost two positions and now ranks 45th. Italy and Argentina, winners of EURO 2020 and Copa America, respectively, won two positions in the FIFA top 10. Italy climbed to fifth, one place above England, defeated in the European final at Wembley. Argentina jumped six, after winning the Copa America, by defeating Brazil. (MI)
