December 30, 2021

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 30.12.2021, 13:55

COVID-19 ROMANIA – The 5th wave of the pandemic might
hit Romania starting next month, Health Minister Alexandru Rafila said. Since
the Omicron strain is much more contagious than Delta, Romania needs to
increase its testing capacity, including in family physician practices, as well
as to improve the response capacity of hospitals, the Romanian minister added.
Alexandru Rafila says new medicines used to treat COVID-19 are expected to
arrive in Romania shortly. The Romanian official called for revitalizing the vaccination
campaign, which for the time being has reached a dead end. In turn, the head of
the National Center for the Monitoring and Control of Communicable Diseases,
Adriana Pistol, said Romania could see 25,000 daily infections and over 1,500
patients in intensive care treatment in the worst-case scenario in the 5th
wave. Meanwhile, on Thursday, Romania reported another 1.497 new COVID-19
infections and some 37 related fatalities, of which one was prior to the
reference period. Since the start of the pandemic, some 1.8 million cases of
COVID-19 infection were reported in Romania, and 60,000 people have died to the
virus. Romania has the second-lowest vaccination rate in Europe, after
Bulgaria. Under 7.9 million Romanians have completed the vaccination scheme,
accounting for a little over 40% of the eligible population. Of these, some 2
million people have also received the booster shot.

COVID-19 WORLD – In Europe, the COVID-19 virus continues to cause
difficulties. WHO officials warn a tsunami of cases will follow due to the
Omicron and Delta strains still spreading. The highest number of daily
infections was reported in France, over 200,000, an absolute record since the
start of the pandemic. In Paris, as of Friday, face masks will become mandatory
outside. Another measure is to reduce the gap between the second dose and the
booster shot to 3 months, and the introduction of the vaccination certificate,
which will replace the green certificate starting mid-January. Full vaccination
will be therefore required to access most public venues in this country. The
United Kingdom, Italy, Denmark and Portugal also reported record-high numbers
of infection. In Belgium, the authorities rolled back its decision to close
theatres, cinemas and performance halls, a measure introduced to limit the
spread of the Omicron strain and appealed by a theatre producer.

GOVERNMENT – A new government meeting is today scheduled in
Bucharest. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă says high on the agenda are measures
required to conclude the fourth quarter of the National Recovery and Resilience
Plan. This autumn, the European Commission approved Romania’s plan, disbursing
29 billion Euro as subsidies and loans for investments and reforms to our
country. Romania has already received 1.8 billion Euro in the pre-financing
stage, tantamount to 13% of the plan’s total budget.

CALL CENTER – The Romanian
Foreign Ministry announced it successfully completed the process of modernizing
and streamlining the Call Center set up as part of the Contact and Support
Center for Romanians Abroad. The number of call lines was extended, allowing for
the reception of up to 256 phone calls simultaneously via an automatic
application, as compared to 96 previously. All the consular assistance provided
via the automatic reception line have been updated and restructured.
Additionally, access to the emergency line has been prioritized, and the
econsulat.ro website has been optimized and simplified, now people being able
to access it easier from their tablets and smart phones. This year, the Romanian
Foreign Ministry call center received a total of 1.2 million phone calls, and
replied to approximately 240 thousand email requests from Romanians living
abroad.

EUROSTAT – Over 96% of
Romania’s population lived in a household owning their home in 2020, the
highest percentage recorded at EU level, the Eurostat reports. Meanwhile, at EU
level, the percentage of people who owned their homes dropped slightly compared
to 2019. In Romania, the percentage went up, from 95.8% in 2019, to 96.1% in
2020. Other states with a high percentage of home ownership are Slovakia (92%)
and Hungary and Croatia (both with 91%). At the opposite pole, the countries
with the lowest percentage of home ownership are Denmark (59%), Austria (55%)
and Germany (a little over 50%). Eurostat figures also show that 53% of EU
citizens live in a house, 46% in a flat, whereas 1% in houseboats or vans. In Romania,
nearly 66% of people live in houses and 34% in flats. However, our country
ranks last at EU level in terms of the size of households, measured in terms of
bedrooms per person. The average at EU level is 1.6 bedrooms per person, while
in Romania it stands at 1.1 bedrooms. (VP)