December 7, 2021

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 07.12.2021, 14:00

Covid-19Ro. More than 1,400 new cases of Covid-19 and 107 related deaths, of which 6 from before the current reference timeframe, have been reported in Romania today. The National Committee for Emergency Situations approved on Monday evening the decision on quarantine rules for those who enter Romania, against the current background created by the spread of the Omicron variant in Europe. The measures come in force on Friday, at midnight, and will stay in place until January 8th. According to the Committee, people traveling to Romania from green or yellow areas and have not been vaccinated, cannot show a negative PCR test or have not had the disease in the past 80 days will be quarantined for 14 days. The same measures apply to those who come from red zones and cannot provide the evidence mentioned above. If, however, travelers coming from the countries on the red list have a negative PCR test, they will be quarantined only for 10 days.

Brussels. The Romanian Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila, participates today in Brussels, in the meeting of the EU Heath Ministers. The agenda of the meeting includes topics of interest for the current epidemiological context such as coordinating the measures needed to detect and control the spread of the new Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 and the acquisition, through a common EU procedure, of COVID-19 therapies. The EU Health Ministers will also have an exchange of views on the need to set up at the level of the European Commission a service specialized in ensuring the preparation for emergencies that may arise in the health field.

Pandemic. The World Health Organization has spoken out against the use of antibody-containing blood plasma from people who have recently recovered from COVID-19 to treat patients that have the disease. The WHO has argued that current evidence shows that its use does not increase the survival rate or reduce the need to use breathing devices. On the other hand, Omicron, the new strain of SARS-CoV2, has made its presence felt in many European countries, most cases, over 260, being announced on Monday in Denmark. The variant could become dominant in January also in France, currently facing the fifth epidemic wave in full swing. The Paris government has decided not to impose restrictions as it did in the past, but to strengthen the vaccination system and better control the virus’s circulation in schools. The only spaces that will be closed for a month are nightclubs. In Germany, too, the new government plans to tighten restrictions. Overseas, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has decided on mandatory vaccination for private sector workers, a provision that will take effect on December 27. He described the decision as a precautionary measure to limit the increase in COVID-19 cases due to the new variant of the coronavirus, Omicron.

Constitution. In Romania, the ruling National Liberal Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians are in favor of a constitutional reform to reflect the changes in society. A new constitution would, among other things, clarify the powers of the president and ensure a balance of powers in the state. The revision of the current Constitution has been included in all the speeches given from the rostrum of the Parliament of Bucharest, which marked, on Monday, through a solemn sitting, 30 years since the adoption of the current Constitution of Romania, which consecrated the restoration of constitutional democracy and consolidated the pluralist political regime. The Fundamental Law was approved about two years after the anti-communist revolution of December 1989, and has since been revised only once, in 2003.

Conference. Radio Romania organizes, today, together with ABU – Asia-Pacific Audiovisual Union, the Media & Culture Days conference, a new platform for the exchange of experiences and good practices between journalists from Europe and Asia-Pacific. Due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, the event will take place online. The conference aims to generate media cooperation projects between the two continents, on topics of interest such as the impact of the pandemic on culture, solutions to overcome the crisis in the creative industries, new technologies and strategies to attract young people to culture through public media. A special session will be devoted to case studies on successful pandemic projects.

Ruling. The High Court of Cassation and Justice has today ordered the acquittal of the former president of the Romanian Senate Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, for the offenses of abuse of office and complicity in the usurpation of official functions. This is the case in which Tariceanu was sent to trial by the General Prosecutor’s Office in December 2020, being accused of not taking note of and not including in the voting agenda of the Senate the termination of Senator Cristian Marciu’s term, although a final court decision had established that the senator was no longer compatible and could no longer hold a public office. Former senator Cristian Marciu was acquitted in the same case, but the decision is not final.

Handball. Romania’s women’s handball national team meets Norway today in Group C of the World Championship in Spain. On Sunday, the Romanians defeated the team of Kazakhstan, score 38-17 and qualified for the main groups of the competition. Earlier, in the first game, Romania defeated Iran 39-11. 32 national teams taking part in the World Championship this year, and the first three ranked in the preliminary groups go into the main groups. The Romanian team marks its 25th participation in this competition and is the only national squad that has not missed any edition. Over this period it has won four medals: gold (1962), silver (1973 and 2005) and bronze (2015). (MI)