Radio România Internațional

Tag: flu epidemic

  • Evolution of the Flu Virus in Romania

    Evolution of the Flu Virus in Romania

    Already shaken by the downward trend of the Euro-Leu exchange rate and a recent series of extreme weather phenomena, Romania is now also on the brink of a flu epidemic. This week, health authorities will decide whether or not to declare a flu epidemic at national level. Health Minister Sorina Pintea has said the decision will be made if the number of diagnosed cases referred to the relevant national institute exceeds expectations for the third week in a row.



    The number of victims is already higher than last year, when only four people died to the flu virus. Most of those who succumbed to the flu hadnt taken the anti-influenza vaccine and were considered vulnerable categories, with pre-existing medical conditions. On the other hand, Minister Pintea has said 6,000 cases are registered in school units, as reported by county public health directorates. This was the reason why the Health Ministry has called on the Education Ministry to suspend classes on Friday, January 25, in all schools in the country, since Thursday, January 24, the Union of the Romanian Principalities, was a national holiday anyway. On Monday, school resumed for some three million school and pre-school children.



    Education Minister Ecaterina Andronescu has said schools will be open this week, as teachers need to close the mid-year record. Against the backdrop of the wide circulation of respiratory diseases, Minister Andronescu advised parents to take their children to hospital if they suspect they are exhibiting cold or flu-related symptoms, and pointed out that epidemiological triage should be compulsory in schools every morning.



    The authorities are calling on all people exhibiting symptoms associated with influenza to consult their family physicians first and foremost, as any doctor can prescribe antiviral medication. Specialists also recommend voluntary home isolation to all people presenting symptoms and the strict observance of hygiene and health standards, especially washing hands.



    In hospitals, wearing the appropriate apparel (masks, gloves, gowns) is compulsory, both to visitors and to the medical staff. Moreover, hospitals treating inpatients suffering from acute respiratory diseases must restock their antiviral medication and proceed to the immediate vaccination of all unvaccinated staff. Specialists warn that, considering the centralized data of the last 15 years, flu epidemics usually peak in mid-March. (Translated by V. Palcu, edited by D. Vijeu)

  • January 26, 2019 UPDATE

    January 26, 2019 UPDATE

    WEATHER – Meteorologists have issued a new code yellow alert against freezing rain and icing valid for 6 counties in south-eastern Romania and the capital city, Bucharest, as well as warnings against freezing rain for the south and the southwest, and against gusty wind and snowfalls for the mountainous regions, valid until Sunday. 16 counties and the city of Bucharest have been affected by freezing rain and precipitations. In Bucharest, scores of trees have been broken or uprooted because of freezing rain and tens of cars have been damaged, the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations has announced. Electricity has been disrupted because of unfavourable weather conditions, with 120,000 people being left without electricity in some 200 towns and villages. Bad weather has also affected road traffic, several segments of highway and national roads having been temporarily closed because of icing and blizzard. Railway and air traffic has also been severely disrupted. Trains failed to arrive on time and many flights have been cancelled or delayed on Henri Coanda Airport near Bucharest as well as on other airports across the country because of aircraft de-icing procedures. Tens of people slipping on snow or ice have been taken to hospital for care, with injuries and bone fractures. Over 12,000 employees of the Romanian Interior Ministry, policemen, fire-fighters and gendarmes have been mobilised to intervene immediately and support the population. As of Sunday noon, temperatures will slightly go up all across the country. The highs will range between minus 3 and plus 7 degrees Celsius.



    FLU – The Romanian Health Ministry will decide next week whether or not to declare a flu epidemic in Romania, after a growing number of flu virus infections and deaths in recent times. The authorities have announced that 39 people have succumbed to the flu this season. The line minister, Sorina Pintea, on Tuesday called on the National Public Health Institute to make public data on the situation at national level and said the ministry will declare the outbreak of a flu epidemic if reported data confirm for a third week the epidemic scale of the flu. Doctors continue to recommend vaccination as well as going to a GP when noticing symptoms similar to flu infections. As regards the suspension of classes in schools and high-schools because of the rising number of flu cases, the health minister said each school can file a request to that end, if the rate of absenteeism exceeds 20%.



    VENEZUELA – The EU High Representative for Foreign Policy,
    Federica Mogherini, on Saturday urged Venezuela to hold free, transparent and
    credible presidential elections to elect a government that truly represents the
    will of its citizens. In the absence of an announcement on the organization of
    fresh elections with the necessary guarantees over the next few days, the EU
    will take further actions, including on the issue of recognition of the
    country’s leadership in line with article 233 of the Venezuelan constitution,
    Mogherini said in a statement. Mogherini’s message comes after the coordinated
    ultimatums from Madrid,
    Paris, Berlin, London and Lisbon, which gave 8 days to the incumbent president
    Nicolas Maduro to call for early elections, or they will recognize his
    opponent, Juan Guaido, as ”president” of Venezuela if he does not do that in
    this time span. On Saturday, the Venezuela file was on the agenda of a UN Security
    Council meeting, convened at the request of the USA. US Secretary of State, Mike
    Pompeo, urged the Security Council members to support the leader of the opposition
    in Venezuela, Juan Guaido. The latter self-proclaimed interim president on
    Wednesday, enjoying Washington’s support.


    MACEDONIA – The Romanian Foreign Ministry has hailed the signing by the Greek Parliament of the Prespa Agreement which provides for the official change of the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia into the Republic of North Macedonia. The Romanian Foreign Ministry says Fridays vote in the Parliament in Athens, alongside the one in the Parliament in Skopje, on January 11, stand proof of both sides commitment to normalise bilateral relations and contributes significantly to giving a new dynamics to the Western Balkans European and Euro-Atlantic perspective. The ratification of the agreement has also been hailed by the USA. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has expressed satisfaction with the approval by the Greek Parliament of the agreement which puts en end to an almost 30 year-long dispute between the two neighbours and opens the way to that small Balkan state towards EU and NATO accession. The agreement has been vehemently contested by numerous Greeks, as Macedonia is also the name of a historical Greek province.



    USA – US President Donald Trump has signed a bill to end federal shutdown and temporarily reopen government. The deal announced on Friday will re-open shuttered federal agencies until February 15. It will enable approximately 800,000 employees affected by the shutdown to resume work and receive payment. In another move, President Trump warned however to impose a fresh shutdown if the Mexico border wall deal is not reached by February 15. The American Senate unanimously passed a funding bill on Friday afternoon. It then went to the House, where it was unanimously approved.



    POLITICS – Former Romanian technocratic PM Dacian Cioloş on Saturday was elected President of the Liberty, Unity and Solidarity Party, PLUS, with a majority of votes. Ciolos said he will only hold a one year mandate, until the leading structures of the party are elected. During his tenure, Ciolos will have responsibilities in building the party and getting good results in the European parliamentary elections scheduled for May. Dacian Ciolos is a former EU Commissioner for Agriculture. He became Prime Minister of Romania in the autumn of 2015, after the resignation tendered by the Ponta cabinet, against the backdrop of wide protests generated by the tragic events of October 30, 2015, when fire ripped through the Colectiv club in Bucharest, killing many innocent lives. Ciolos led the government until the 2016 legislative elections.



    MOLDOVAN ELECTIONS – The electoral campaign for the parliamentary elections of February 24 started in the neighbouring Republic of Moldova on Friday. The elections will be held for the first time based on the so called mixed voting system, that is 50 MPs will be elected on party lists and 51 others in uninominal electoral constituencies, in only one round of voting. Nine parties have already enlisted so far and six have filed the documents at the Central Electoral Committee. According to the opinion polls, the pro-Russian Socialists of President Igor Dodon are in the lead, followed by representatives of the pro-European right and the ruling Democratic Party (left of centre). A referendum on downsizing the number of MPs from 101 to 61 and on introducing the possibility of dismissing MPs will also be held concurrently with the elections.



    AUSTRALIA – Thousands of Australians took part in rallies across the country on Saturday to protest against the so called “Invasion Day, which marks the arrival of the first British settlers in 1788 and which they consider an insult to the indigenous population, FP reports. To many Australians, January 26, when “Australia Day is celebrated, marks the start of oppression against the indigenous population. The protesters, gathered in big cities, have called for changing the date of the national holiday or for simply relinquishing it. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is opposed to the change, has said Australia cannot turn its back on its past. In that country, the Aboriginal Australians are most disadvantaged, with a poverty rate much below other communities and also with a reduced access to healthcare.



    TENNIS – Japanese woman tennis player, Naomi Osaka, no.4 WTA on Saturday won the womens final of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, by defeating the Czech Petra Kvitova (no. 6 WTA), in three sets. Osaka, 21, will become no.1 WTA as of Monday, replacing Romanian Simona Halep, who got eliminated in the eighth finals in Melbourne. Osaka is the first woman tennis player from an Asian country to become no.1 in the world. Petra Kvitova will become no.2 WTA, also as of Monday. (Translated by D. Vijeu)

  • January 26, 2019

    January 26, 2019

    FLU – The Romanian Health Ministry will decide next week whether or not to declare the outbreak of the flu virus a flu epidemic in Romania, after a growing number of flu virus infections and deaths in recent times. The authorities have announced that 39 people have succumbed to the flu this season. The line minister, Sorina Pintea, on Tuesday called on the National Public Health Institute to make public data related to the situation at national level and said the ministry will declare the outbreak of a flu epidemic if reported data confirm for a third week the epidemic scale of the flu. Doctors continue to recommend vaccination as well as going to a GP when noticing symptoms similar to flu infections. As regards the suspension of classes in schools and high-schools because of the rising number of flu cases, the health minister said each school can file a request to that end, if the rate of absenteeism exceeds 20%.



    WEATHER –16 counties in Romania and the city of Bucharest have been affected by freezing rain and precipitations over the past 24 hours. In Bucharest, scores of trees have been broken or uprooted because of freezing rain and tens of cars have been affected, the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations has announced. Electricity has been disputed because of unfavourable weather conditions, with 14,500 people being left without electricity in tens of towns and villages. Blizzard and freezing rain have prompted the authorities to request the activation of the cell with coordinating responsibilities in the domain of electricity distribution and supplying. Bad weather has also affected road traffic, several segments of highway and national roads having been closed because of icing and blizzard. Trains fail to arrive on time and many flights have delayed because of lengthy aircraft de-icing procedures on Henri Coanda Airport near Bucharest. Tens of people slipping on snow or ice have been taken to hospital for care, with injuries and bone fractures. Over 12,000 employees of the Romanian Interior Ministry, policemen, fire-fighters and gendarmes have been mobilised to intervene and support the population if need be. The sky is still overcast in Romania and precipitations are reported all across the country. The highs of the day range between minus 5 and plus 9 degrees Celsius. The noon reading in Bucharest was minus one degree C.



    SPORT — The Romanian women’s handball champion, CSM București, is facing Gyor ETO team of Hungary, in the first group B match of the Champions’ League. The two teams are ranking first in the group, Gyor with 8 points and CSM with 6. Playing in the same group are also Vipers Kristiansand (Norway), Krim Ljubljana (Slovenia), Ferencvaros (Hungary) and Thuringer HC (Germany). In the last two seasons, CSM Bucureşti got the bronze medal of the competition, after it won the trophy in 2016. It is now playing for the fourth time in the Champions’ League. Also today, the EHF Cup holders, Romania’s vice-champions, SCM Craiova (in the south), are facing on home ground the Croatian team Podravka Vegeta Koprivnica, in Group D. Podravka ranks first with 6 points, followed by Super Amara Bera Bera (Spain) and SCM Craiova, with 2 points each. In Group A, SC Măgura of Cisnădie (in the centre) is meeting , away from home, the Norwegian team Storhamar Handball Elite. In the first three matches of the group, Magura sustained defeat. (Translated by D. Vijeu)

  • January 20, 2019 UPDATE

    January 20, 2019 UPDATE

    Brussels — On Monday the Romanian FM Teodor Melescanu will participate in the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. On the agenda of the meeting are topical issues such as fighting disinformation, cooperation between the EU and the League of Arab States and the relations between the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). According to a press release of the Romanian Foreign Ministry, during the meeting to be presided by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, Minister Melescanu will present the participants the main themes in the focus of Romania’s presidency of the Council of the EU. On Tuesday he will have meetings on the same topic at the EP’s Foreign Affairs and Development Committees.



    Council of the EU — The Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU has finalized the adoption of the first file in the field of economic and financial affairs, namely the regulations on the minimum loss coverage for non-performing exposures, the Romanian Finance Ministry officials announced. Reporting significant progress in the field of financial services is one of Romania’s priorities at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting- said the Romanian finance minister Eugen Teodorovici. He met in Strasbourg with the co-rapporteurs on the file regarding the revision of the European financial surveillance system and with the members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Pervenche Beres and Othmar Karas. The Romanian finance minister also talked with Isabelle Thomas, a member in the EP’s Committee on Budgets, about the negotiations on Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027.



    Berlin — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will participate on Tuesday in Aachen, in western Germany, in the ceremony for the signing of the French-German Cooperation and Integration Treaty upon the invitation of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and of the French President Emmanuel Macron. On this occasion, President Iohannis, in his capacity as president of the country holding the incumbent presidency of the Council of the EU, will deliver a speech. The ceremony will also be attended by the president of the European Council Donald Tusk and the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. The Aachen bilateral treaty is based, from a political and juridical point of view, on the Elysee French-German Treaty of 1963 that set the basis for a historic reconciliation between Germany and France. The Aachen treaty will focus on adjusting the relations between the two states to the challenges of the 21st century, laying emphasis on the cohesion of the two countries’ action at European level.



    Flu — The number of people killed by the flu in Romania reached 20, after on Sunday a new death was reported. A 68-year old man from the southeastern city of Galati died because of the AH3 flu virus. According to the local authorities, the victim had not been vaccinated and was suffering from serious chronic respiratory diseases. On Saturday the health minister Sorina Pintea said that Romania was on the verge of a flu epidemic. The decision to declare a flu epidemic is based on the WHO criteria, one of the most important criteria being the number of cases, namely 1,500 per 100 thousand inhabitants.



    Chisinau — The Moldovan government announced they would increase the number of polling stations for the parliamentary elections of February 24, 2019. 125 stations will be opened abroad, 25 more than at the 2016 presidential election. The number of polling stations will be doubled in Ukraine, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Great Britain and Ireland, it will increase by 70% in the US, by almost 40% in Russia and by 9% in neighboring Romania. Legislative elections will take place for the first time based on a mixed electoral system, according to which 50 deputies will be elected on party lists and another 51 in uninominal electoral constituencies, in one single round.



    High Court — The High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest on Monday will hold a new hearing in the trial in which the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and leader of the Social Democratic Party is accused of corruption. He was already sentenced in a court of first instance to 3 years and 6 months in prison for having instigated to abuse of office. The prosecutors of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate accused Dragnea that, during his term in office as president of the Teleorman county council he ordered the fictitious hiring of two party members at the Directorate for Social Assistance and Child Protection. The two were paid from public money although they worked exclusively for the party. In 2016 Dragnea received a definitive two year suspended sentence for attempted electoral fraud.



    Tennis — The world’s no. 1 player, Simona Halep will take on Serena Williams on Monday, in Melbourne, in the eighth finals of the Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam tournament. On Saturday she eliminated Venus Williams on Saturday 6-2, 6-3. Simona Halep and Serena Williams have so far played against each other 9 times. Halep defeated Williams once in 2014 in the WTA Championships Red Group 6-0, 6-2. (translation by L. Simion)