October 9, 2021
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 09.10.2021, 13:27
Covid-19. The death-toll associated with the new coronavirus reported in Romania in 24 hours reached, on Friday, a new record high – 385. In the same interval, almost 14 thousand new cases of contamination were registered. The severity of the fourth wave of the pandemic is seen in hospitals, which are looking for solutions to treat the patients who need medical help. Across the country, there are several vacancies for intensive care that are being filled immediately, from among the 1,560 patients in serious condition out of the nearly 15,000 hospitalized. Authorities have announced that 131 additional IC beds for COVID patients have been operationalized nationwide. The head of the Department for Emergency Situations, Raed Arafat, announced on Friday that talks were being held with the neighboring Hungary for the transfer to that country of some of the Romanian Covid-19 patients in a serious condition. The Executive has decided to extend the state of alert for another 30 days, and wearing a protective mask is now mandatory in all open spaces in localities where the incidence exceeds six cases per thousand inhabitants.
Government. The main opposition party in Romania, the Social Democratic Party, and the Save Romania Union, a former junior party in the ruling coalition, continue their criticism of the way in which the ousted PNL-UDMR Government allocated more than one billion lei, the equivalent of some 200 million Euro, from the reserve fund, to benefit local authorities. Several mayors have called on the Government to rapidly review the allocation criteria. In an open letter, they claim that the allocation was arbitrary and based on political criteria only. The Development Ministry has stated that the money was allocated fairly to all town halls, without any political bias, but the total requested amount went beyond 11 billion lei, and the government could only spare one.
Visit. Israeli Diaspora Minister Nachman Schai will visit Romania and Sweden next week. According to the Radio Romania correspondent in Israel, in Bucharest, he will participate, on Monday, in the commemoration ceremony at the Holocaust Memorial, and in Malmö he will address the International Forum for the Commemoration of the Holocaust and the Fight against anti-Semitism. The Minister will meet with members of the Romanian Jewish community, with representatives of the presidential administration, the government and diplomatic corps. This year marks eight decades since the regime of Marshal Ion Antonescu, allied with Nazi Germany, deported the Jews from Bessarabia and Bukovina to Transnistria (east).
Pilgrimage. One of the largest orthodox pilgrimages in Europe has started in Iasi, in eastern Romania, at the reliquary of Saint Parascheva, who is celebrated on October 14th. Saint Parascheva was born near Constantinople, in the early 11th century, as is considered the protector of the Medieval Principality of Moldavia since 1641, when her relics were brought to Iasi by ruler Vasile Lupu. The relics were a gift from the Ecumenical Patriarch, after the Romanian ruler paid the Patriarchys debts to the Ottoman administration.
Elections. In the Czech Republic today is the second and last day of voting for the election of a new parliament. The current prime minister, the populist Andrej Babis, a billionaire businessman who came to power four years ago, faces two electoral blocs, the center-right and the anti-system, respectively. Babis ANO party had a minor lead in the polls, despite allegations of serious corruption and criticism of the governments handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Football. Romanias national football team lost, on Friday night, in Hamburg, the match with the multiple world and European champion Germany, in Group J of the preliminaries of the World Cup to be held in Qatar, next year. Also on Friday, in the same group, the matches Iceland – Armenia, 1-1, and Liechtenstein – North Macedonia, 0-4 were played. After seven matches played by each team, Germany is the group leader, with 18 points, followed by Armenia and North Macedonia, with 12. Romania has 10 points, Iceland 5 and Liechtenstein one. Only the winner of the group goes directly to the final tournament, while the team on the second position will play in the qualifiers. Romania has not participated in a World Cup since the 1998 edition in France. (MI)
