August 29, 2021

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 29.08.2021, 14:00

COVID-19 – Romania remains
in the green zone, although the number of COVID-19 patients requiring medical
treatment is on the rise. There are 1,115 people now being treated for
coronavirus in hospitals across Romania, the highest number reported in the
last three months, while 269 people are in intensive care. 868 new cases of
infection and 19 related fatalities were reported on Sunday by the Group for
Strategic Communication, most new cases being signaled in Bucharest and in
Cluj, Timiş and Iaşi counties. Since
the start of the vaccination campaign, 5.1 million people have completed the
full vaccination scheme. Health Minister Ioana Mihăilă said that if the
epidemiological context worsens, travel restrictions may target only people who
haven’t taken the vaccine, and that schools will stay open for as long as
possible. The Romanian official also said the authorities shouldn’t cover the
costs entailed by testing as long as the vaccine is free of charge and widely
available.

PANDEMIC – The list of
countries with a high epidemiological risk will come into force on Sunday at
midnight. Greece, Turkey, North Macedonia, Spain and Switzerland are in the red
zone, which means all arrivals from these countries will be exempted from
quarantine only if people provide proof of vaccination. The yellow zone now
includes Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, Slovenia, Japan, Palestine and the
Philippines. Romanians returning from the yellow zone will not enter quarantine
if they have the vaccine, had the disease of provide a PCR negative test. The
United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and the British Virgin Islands are now in the
green zone.

EXHIBITION – A Romanian Air
Force aircraft on Sunday transported to Spain artifacts to be presented in the
exhibition Archeological Treasures of Romania – Dacian and Roman Roots.
Bringing together 835 exceptional exhibits from the collections of 39 museums in
Romania, the exhibition will be opened to the general public at the National
Museum of Archaeology in Madrid, and is being coordinated by Romania’s History
Museum. The exhibition will open on September 30 and will close at the end of
January, 2022. It is organized under the aegis of the Romanian Ministries of
Culture and Foreign Affairs, with support from the Defense Ministry, and is
part of the Agenda of Public and Cultural Diplomacy devoted in 2021 to marking
140 years of diplomatic relations between Romania and Spain. The exhibition
also enjoys the high patronage of His Majesty, King Felipe 6th of
Spain and of Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis.

SIBIU – The
International Theatre Festival in Sibiu came to a close on Sunday. For nine
days, over 2,000 artists from 38 countries turned the city into one huge stage.
Nearly 600 performances, conferences, exhibitions, workshops and other special
events were held, most of which with physical crowd attendance, but also in
hybrid format and online.

GEORGE
ENESCU
– Great world orchestras, reputed Romanian and foreign artists are taking part
in the 25th edition of the George Enescu International Music
Festival that kicked off at the Bucharest Concert Hall on Saturday. Over the
next month, 32 orchestras from 14 countries will climb on stage, and viewers
will have to abide by COVID-related health regulations. Sunday’s agenda
includes a concert at the Auditorium concert hall of the National Fine Arts
Museum in Bucharest, while the Moldovan Chamber Orchestra, conducted by
Cristian Florea, will open the section Enescu and his Contemporaries. The
Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest hosts a concert given by the Philharmonic
Orchestra of Zagreb conducted by Dawid Runtz, with violinist Valentin Şerban
and cellist Jae Min Han, last year’s winners of the George Enescu International
Music Contest, as soloists. Also on
Sunday, the London Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Simon Rattle and the Radio
Academic Choir conducted by Ciprian Ţuţu will perform works by Enescu and
Strawinski at the Bucharest Concert Hall, marking 50 years since the death of
Igor Strawinski and 140 years since the birth of George Enescu. The 2021
edition of the George Enescu festival is also held in Satu Mare, Cluj, Sibiu, Braşov, Iaşi, Piteşti and Constanţa.

TENNIS – 4 of the 5
Romanian tennis players who qualified to the main draw at the US Open will play
in the opening round on Monday. Simona Halep (13 WTA) will play Camila Giorgi
of Italy (36 WTA). Irina Begu (74 WTA) will go up against Andrea Petkovic of Germany
(66 WTA). Ana Bogdan (106 WTA) will play Rebeka Masarova of Spain (231 WTA).
Gabriela Ruse (108 WTA) will take on Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic
(40 WTA). Finally, Sorana Cîrstea (38 WTA) will
play Veronika Kudermetova of Russia (31 WTA) on Tuesday. (VP)