November 29, 2021 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 29.11.2021, 20:09
CORONAVIRUS – Romanian authorities announced on Monday 1,096 new COVID-19 cases for the last 24 hours, some 450 cases less than a week ago. Another 107 Covid-related fatalities were also reported, 15 of them from a previous date. Meanwhile, in the capital Bucharest the infection rate dropped to 1.95 cases per thousand. Romanian authorities are monitoring the situation created by the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus, Omicron and hospitals have been instructed to be vigilant and try to detect it as early as possible if it reached Romania. Health Minister Alexandru Rafila has said that it will take experts two or three weeks to provide the first clear information regarding the evolution of the infection with this new variant and the protection offered by the vaccine. A Tarom airliner is scheduled to repatriate the 36 Romanian nationals stranded in South Africa, after flights to and from that country were suspended in an attempt to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus variant Omicron. We have more on this after the news.
HOLIDAY – As of this past weekend Romanians are enjoying a short holiday. With Tuesday, November 30th and Wednesday, December 1 official bank holidays, the government decided to make Monday a non-working day as well. Many Romanians chose to spend these days off in mountain or spa resorts, but city breaks in historical locations were also popular choices. On Tuesday, November 30, Orthodox Romanians celebrate St. Andrew, the patron saint of Romania. He spread the word of God in today’s Dobrogea, on the Black Sea coast. More than 900,000 Romanians are named after him. On Wednesday, December 1, on Romania’s National Day, military parades and ceremonies will be held across the country, including in the capital Bucharest. Because of the pandemic, however, these events will be low-key. In many Romanian cities holiday street lights will be turned on that evening and Christmas fairs will be opened.
EU – The European Commission has announced the setting up of a European press centre to include 16 news agencies that will cooperate to improve media coverage of EU topics. The project will be coordinated by the German agency DPA and will include, among others, representatives from France Press, the Italian ANSA, the Spanish EFE and the Romanian Agerpres news agency. The Commission will earmark 1.7 million euros for this project, due to start in January. The press centre will be functional starting mid-2022.
HANUKKAH – The Hanukkah tradition reinforces faith and hope among the members of the Jewish community, said the president of Romania Klaus Iohannis, in a message occasioned by this holiday. The Romanian official also mentioned in this context Romania’s commitment to preventing and fighting anti-Semitism. In turn, the PM Nicolae Ciucă and the Chamber of Deputies speaker Marcel Ciolacu took part on Sunday night at the National Opera House in Bucharest in a ceremony in which the first Hanukkah candle was lit. The 2 officials also mentioned that Israel is an important ally of Romania. The Festival of Lights, as the Hanukkah is also known, lasts for 8 days and commemorates the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple following a historic battle for the Jewish people in the 2nd century BCE.
MIGRANTS – The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, promised to strengthen cooperation against the hybrid threats coming from Belarus and Russia. On Sunday the 2 officials made a joint visit to Lithuania and Latvia, which alongside Poland are facing an inflow of illegal migrants. Ursula Von der Leyen and Jens Stoltenberg accused Minsk of orchestrating the migrant crisis, viewed as a hybrid threat against the EU, but Belarus dismissed the accusations. The visit of the 2 officials comes ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers on Tuesday and Wednesday in Latvia. Also attending will be the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The participants in the meeting are expected to voice concerns over the Russian military build-up near the Ukrainian border.
OMICRON – World Health Organisation member states are analysing for the next 3 days a global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO has warned on Monday that the new variant, Omicron, poses a “very high” global risk of infection surges, but has also emphasised that many uncertainties still exist with respect to the dangers and the transmission rate of this variant. G7 health ministers are taking part in an online conference on the Omicron variant, first identified in South Africa. Omicron has been found in other parts of the world, including the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia. Several countries have already suspended flights to and from countries in the south of Africa, in an effort to prevent the variant from spreading. (EE)
