Radio România Internațional

Tag: indicators

  • Vaccination and testing

    Vaccination and testing

    The Health Ministry in Bucharest has said changes are needed in terms of indicators included in the Covid-19 infection reports and also as regards the number of daily tests. State Secretary Andreea Moldovan says that, at present, official data does not mirror the real situation in Romania, as fewer tests than needed are taken and many of the positive tests are not reported. Moldovan has encouraged people to take the quick antigen test: ”These are quick tests, they are available and it takes around 15 minutes to have the result, so the testing capacity can definitely be increased. This does not happen at present. Testing and especially reporting the results in medical units is still slow. Moreover, these tests can also be taken at home. There are many people who take the test, one family member has a positive result and the others in the family no longer take the test so as not to waste it, and the positive test result is not reported. We want to emphasize the importance of testing and reporting, in order to have a clear picture of the situation.”



    Moreover, authorities discuss about changing some indicators in the Covid-19 reporting. Thus, when the infection rate in a certain locality is reported, the number of infections in hotbeds will also be considered, which has not been the case before. According to Andreea Moldovan, hiding the real situation does not do Romania any favor. ”These indicators show us the real situation in the country so that measures can be taken accordingly. We should not regard them as restrictions, but as measures that help us keep things under control”, the official said. She also explained that, given the alarming pace of infection in all European countries, and the fact that countries have imposed new restrictions, the Romanian authorities must also be prepared.



    In terms of vaccination, the authorities have announced that, starting February 1, people will also be immunized with the Moderna vaccine, alongside the Pfizer vaccine. Moreover, people working in essential sectors, included in the second stage of the immunization campaign, will be scheduled for vaccination again. Over 35 thousand people from this category should have been vaccinated these days, but they were delayed by 10 days because last week Romania only got half the number of doses it should have received, so the elderly and the people with chronic diseases were given priority. (Translated by E. Enache)



  • Economic results for 2018

    Economic results for 2018

    Openly at odds with the Government formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the right-of-centre President Klaus Iohannis Monday called on PM Viorica Dancila to step down, for the second time in just a few days. This time around, the President spoke about what he regards as the economic under-performance of the current Cabinet, the third appointed by the Social Democrats since they won the parliamentary elections in December 2016.



    Klaus Iohannis says the public budget is subject to tremendous pressure, as overall expenditure is rising, and the evolution of public finances is completely inadequate. He also criticised the Government for failing to implement major investments and to turn the economic growth into an increase in revenues.



    Klaus Iohannis: “After nearly one and a half years of Social Democratic rule, with this highly questionable salary increase charade, we have no roads, no highways, no schools, no hospitals. What the Social Democrats really do is mortgage the future of this country. They raise salaries and pensions and disregard important investments in infrastructure, or investments required for the development of the country.



    The Government was quick to respond. On Tuesday, deputy PM Viorel Stefan presented information on the budget implementation in the first months of 2018. According to him, the economic parameters for the first quarter are higher than in the corresponding period of 2017. Budget revenues went up by nearly 12%. Last month alone, the Fiscal Agency collected 17% more money than in April last year. As for the budget deficit, the deputy PM says that most of the funds were earmarked for investments, which amount to double the sums allotted last year.



    Viorel Stefan: “Four months into the year, we notice that the revenues to the general public budget amount to over 19 billion euros. Compared to the corresponding period of last year, this means an 11.8% increase. This figure includes both the amounts collected by the Fiscal Agency, and those brought in by operations run by other public institutions.



    The confidence of the Government is based, among other things, on international economic reports. The latest one, made public by the World Bank, says Romanias economy will continue to grow in 2018, by up to 5.1%.



    Still, the war between President Klaus Iohannis and the Social Democratic Party shows no sign of being over. On the contrary, both sides seem to fuel it, with deputy PM recently claiming that between 2014 and 2017, the only year when public revenues dropped was 2016, when Romania was ruled by a cabinet of technocrats that President Iohannis more than once described as being “his own.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)