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The School Year Resumes in Romania Online

After
Easter holidays, schools in Romania resumed their activity online in
order for students to to continue their classes from homes during the
coronavirus pandemics, whose outbreak led to the temporary closing of
schools and other education facilities on March 11th.

Health
Minister Nelu Tataru has told a private TV channel that schools could
be open in late May or early June. We must be very careful with the
children, Tataru went on to say adding that some protocols were being
considered for the children’s comeback to schools.

In
turn, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has given assurances that the
authorities never took into consideration the idea of freezing the
school year, adding that the government’s objective was to ensure
all the conditions needed for the pupils and students to complete
their studies and take their national exams in the context allowed by
the epidemiological situation.

However,
according to the announcement made by the Education Ministry early
this month, the structure of the school year has not been modified so
far and is supposed to end on June 12th.
State secretary with the Education Ministry, Luminiţa Barcari, has
called on teachers in a message broadcast by the public radio station
to carry on their efforts and keep children connected to schools and
school activities.

Luminiţa
Barcari:
We
must stay at home, be patient and try to work online as much as
possible. Of course we must space out these activities and not
exhaust the children, we must take into account their age. Some are
complaining they are working too much while others say they there is
too little to study. So we must find the right balance in everything.
Irrespective of the time courses are resumed, this school year will
certainly be completed. We have working alternatives for all national
exams.

The
Education Ministry has published the curricula, from which the
objects of the second semester have been eliminated for those taking
the baccalaureate or the national evaluation exams. The measure has
been taken in agreement with representatives of the students, parents
and teachers and those from the National College of Rectors.

The
state secretary with the Education Ministry, Luminita Barcari has
announced the institution has made available five training tests
weekly for any object of study in order to help students improve
their studies during the time when courses were suspended.

Conceived
in accordance with the new curricula, these tests have been posted on
the website of the Education Ministry. Luminita Barcari has also
mentioned the ‘Tele-school’ programme done in cooperation with
the public TV channel so that students from the last years may
benefit from support offered by volunteer teachers to get ready for
the exams they are supposed to take at the end of this school year. (Translated by: Daniel Bilt)

22 April 2020
April 19, 2020 UPDATE

EASTER Orthodox believers, who are a majority in Romania, and
Greek-Catholics are these days celebrating Easter or the Resurrection of Jesus
Christ our Lord. The Christianity’s greatest event has this year been
celebrated in empty churches as believers were prevented from attending
religious services in order to observe social distancing rules imposed by the
Covid pandemic. All the believers watched live transmissions on various media
channels instead. The Holy light was brought on Saturday from Jerusalem after a
special religious service, which was not attended by thousands of pilgrims like
it used to in the past years. In his message to believers on this occasion,
Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, says the resurrection of
Christ is for us a source of spiritual power to fight the disease, the fear of
death and suffering.

MESSAGES The US ambassador to Romania, Adrian
Zuckerman on Sunday conveyed a message on his behalf and on president Trump’s
to the Romanians wishing them Happy Easter. In his Easter address to the
Romanians, Prince Charles, heir of the British crown, expressed his wish to get
back to Romania as soon as the pandemic is over and to meet members of the
Romanian community in Britain. Prince Charles has also evoked the indispensable
role many Romanians are playing in the British national health service, in its
care homes and in other key roles as we address this unprecedented crisis. We owe them an immense debt of gratitude and I can hardly say
how much their remarkable efforts are appreciated by us all, Prince Charles
went on to say. In his Easter address yesterday, Romanian President Klaus
Iohannis underlined the Resurrection of Christ is a celebration of hope in a
season of rebirth. The head of the Romanian state urged the Romanians to
express their love for the others by respecting the social distancing rules.
Similar messages have been conveyed by Prime Minister Ludovic Orban and the
Senate interim president, Social-Democrat, Robert Cazanciuc and also by other
Romanian politicians.

TOLL The death toll of the pandemic in Romania has exceeded 440,
while 87 hundred infections have been confirmed. 19 hundred people have been
cured and left hospitals. Over 1000 medical workers have tested positive for
the virus, most of them in Suceava, northern Romania and in Bucharest. Health
Minister Nelu Tataru said that Romania is on an upward trend in terms of the
number of infections but with a ‘slower progression’. 60 Romanian nationals
infected with the virus died abroad. 730 Romanians have been infected abroad,
most of them in Italy and Spain.

PANDEMIC The official number of COVID infections
worldwide has exceeded 2.3 million, while the death toll stands at 160
thousand, most of them, over 100 thousand, in Europe. The USA has so far
reported 39 thousand fatalities and over 730 thousand infections confirmed. The
US authorities are starting to gradually resume economic activities against the
background of demonstrations for ending the quarantine, our correspondent in
Washington has announced. The most affected European countries are Italy and
Spain. Russia has reported a record number of infections, 6,000 in the past 24
hours, the total number exceeding 42 thousand.

QUAKE An earthquake of 3.4 Richter was felt today in the seismic region
of Vrancea in south-eastern Romania, the National Institute for Earth Physics
has today announced. 22 such small earthquakes have been reported in the area
since the beginning of the month. On March 4th, 1977 a 7.2
earthquake, the most powerful to have hit Romania, killed 1570 people mostly in
capital Bucharest causing 2 billion euros in material damage.

(translated by bill)

19 April 2020
April 17, 2020 UPDATE

MESSAGE In his Easter address on
Friday, president Klaus Iohannis told the Romanians that the number of
fatalities worldwide is on the rise and Romania hasn’t reached the pandemic’s
peak yet. All restrictions are still in place and any rule violation represents
a major risk, Iohannis added, urging the Romanians to stay at home and do not pay
visits to friends or relatives these days in order to minimize the risk of
contamination. The president has called on the authorities to remain vigilant
in the coming period. Over 36 thousand policemen, gendarme troops,
firefighters, border police, local police and army troops will be on duty
during the Orthodox Easter to enforce the measures imposed through the military
ordinances being also ready to intervene in any situations that might threaten citizens’
lives.

PROGRAMME A state-sponsored programme on supporting small and medium-sized
businesses to benefit interest-free and commission-free loans has today come
into effect in Romania. The sum allotted for this programme is 3.1 billion
euros for working capital and investment. Finance Minister Florin Citu said
this programme is addressing all small and medium-sized businesses in Romania,
not only those, which have been affected by the pandemic crisis. The programme
is aimed at kick-starting the Romanian economy and 600 thousand jobs will be
supported in the programme’s first stage. Companies willing to benefit from the
programme can register on the platform imminvest.ro.

TOLL Covid-19 has so far killed 400 and infected
8000 people in Romania. Roughly 1000 medical workers have been infected most of
them in Suceava, north-eastern Romania and in Bucharest. Romania’s Prime
Minister Ludovic Orban says that the pandemic’s peak is estimated in early May.
He has again called on citizens not to leave their homes unless absolutely
necessary. We recall that 1500 people have been successfully treated and allowed
to leave hospitals.

ORDINANCE Authorities in Bucharest have issued another military ordinance,
number 9. Among other things, the ordinance extends the ban on flights to and
from 10 countries: The UK, Northern Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Turkey,
Iran, Italy, France and Germany. Under the same law, sailors are exempted from
being kept in isolation unless they present Covid symptoms as well as truck
drivers and plane crews. Under the same ordinance, the export of wheat and
other derived products has been banned in order for the state reserves to be
completed.

PANDEMIC Since its outbreak in China, the Coronavirus pandemic has killed nearly
150 thousand people the world over out of 2.2 million infected. The United
States has reported most of the fatalities 35,688 followed by Italy 21,647,
Spain 18,579, France with 17,167 and Britain 12,868. The crisis’ social and
economic impact has fueled concern among experts who believe the pandemic will
bring the end of economy as we know it. OPEC has anticipated for 2020 a sharp
drop in the crude demand worldwide due to the international economic blockage
caused by the pandemic. Some pundits believe that Italy, Spain, Greece and
Portugal are in for deep economic recessions. According to European Commission
Chief, Ursula von der Leyen, Europe needs a new Marshall plan for public and
private investment and the creation of new jobs.

(translated by bill)

17 April 2020
April 15, 2020

MEASURES The Romanian government is presently debating a draft emergency
ordinance aimed at extending the right to technical unemployment compensations
to other categories of workers, which weren’t comprised in the initial project.
So, lawyers, art impresarios and people with income coming from many activities
may opt from only one activity, which is the most advantageous. The Executive
is today also analyzing a memorandum over supporting major research projects in
the field of medical care. Prime Minister Orban has announced that he will
table an emergency ordinance, which stipulates through budget adjustment, more
money for the country’s healthcare system, for the labour Ministry and social
protection. The ceiling for state-granted credits to small and medium-sized
enterprises is to be lifted in order to ensure the necessary working or
investment capital. Local authorities will be allotted more money from the
income tax; cities 2% while counties 1%.

TALKS Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis is today having talks with Prime Minister
Ludovic Orban and members of the Bucharest government over the measures to be
imposed after the state of emergency was extended for another month. Before the
meeting the Romanian president said he would call for a revision of a previous
agreement between the Interior Ministry and the Romanian Orthodox Church, under
which police are offering assistance to priests and believers during Easter. A
series of restrictions have been eased to allow for religious services but people
will have to comply with social distancing rules. The president had called on
the Romanians to stay at home, because otherwise the number of fatalities will
increase after Easter. Another 5 people have been killed by the Covid virus in
Romania bringing the death toll to 362. The total number of people infected has
exceeded 7.200 out of which 1.217 have been cured and
released from hospitals. 245 patients are in the intensive care units at
present. 709 Romanians are infected by the coronavirus abroad, 420 of them in
Italy. 52 Romanian nationals from the diaspora have been killed by the virus
since the outbreak.

POLL
The level of concern over the present medical situation tends to intensify both
in countries with little restrictions, such as Poland or the Netherlands, and
in countries with severe restrictions such as Italy, Spain or France – a poll
published today by the Kantar company shows. According to the study, two rather
optimistic countries like Britain and the United States are seeing an increased
people’s concern only two weeks after the previous poll was published. The
concern of Germans over the present medical situation remains moderate as before.
Romania has 5% more people concerned from the previous report but the level of
80% is very high though. Most of people’s concern in this country is caused by
financial uncertainties. The poll was conducted on more than 45 thousand people
from 50 countries of which 18 hundred from Romania.

TRANSPORT Road carriers in Romania have called on the Romanian presidency and
the government in Bucharest to intervene through diplomatic channels for the
authorities in Germany, Austria and Hungary and other EU members to allow them
access to these countries. In a communiqué published today, representatives of
the National Road Transporters in Romania say that several EU members have
imposed restrictions to professional Romanian drivers, which run against the
principle of the free circulation of road transporters. According to the
organization, several Romanian transport companies said their drivers had not
been allowed to leave the country or travel to countries like Germany or
Austria and operate on various routes in these countries under the contracts
concluded with Romanian companies although the drivers produced all the
necessary documents.

PANDEMIC The number of infections with the new coronavirus at global level is
reaching 2 million and 125 thousand people have been killed. The USA has
reported in the past 24 hours over 22 hundred fatalities, which raises the
death toll to nearly 26 thousand. The most affected countries in Europe remain
Italy, Spain, France and the UK. The president of the European Commission
Ursula von de Leyen today presents recommendations for the EU countries to
gradually lift restrictions although the decision on what restrictions should
be lifted depends on each country. In another development, US president Donald
Trump halted the US funding to the WHO for severely mismanaging the pandemic.

(translated by bill)

15 April 2020
April 13, 2020

COVID 333 new infections with the new cornoavirus have been registered in
Romania since the latest estimate bringing the toll to 6633. 914 of those
infected have been cured and released from hospitals. 213 patients are in the
intensive care units while other 318 people died. 47 Romanian nationals have
been killed by the virus abroad. Authorities are expected the pandemic to reach
its peak in the following period. In another development the country’s health
minister Nelu Tataru decided jointly with Defence Minister Nicolae Ciuca that army
medical personnel take over the management of the county hospital in Focsani
southern Romania, after 15 medical workers in this unit had been infected with
the new coronavirus.

DRILL Romanian servicemen and their US counterparts are participating in a
joint drill at the training center in Babadag, south-eastern Romania, sources
with the National Defence Ministry in Bucharest have announced. The exercise
will simulate an air attack against a ground objective as well as an operation
of recovering a downed aircraft. According to the Defence Ministry, all the
measures imposed in order to limit the coronavirus outbreak have been strictly
observed during the exercise.

PAY CUTS The Romanian government is expected to decide this week,
which categories of state employees will be affected by technical unemployment
measures the government intends to impose during the state of emergency.
According to a scenario mentioned by Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, some state
employees will be paid only 75% of their salaries. The government is also
expected to be reassessing the first budget adjustment this year. The
Ministries of Health and Labour will be the first to benefit from more funds due
to the Coronavirus pandemic. More money will be channeled towards medical
leaves and the purchase of the necessary medical equipment.

EASTER Orthodox Christians, who are a majority in Romania, and
Greek-Catholics are in the Holy Week during which they mark the last days in
the life of their Lord Jesus Christ. Due to quarantine measures, believers will
be watching religious services broadcast live while staying at home. Catholics
and protestants yesterday spent Easter with empty churches and religious
services broadcast by various TV or online channels. Visits to relatives and
friends were banned. In his traditional Easter message from the Vatican, Pope
Francis said there is no time now for indiference, divisions and negligence.

PANDEMIC According to the latest toll,
over 1.85 million people have been infected with the new coronavirus worldwide.
Nearly 115 thousand of them died while 430 thousand have been cured. The USA
ranks first with 550 thousand people infected and 22 thousand deaths. The most
affected is the state of New York, which registered 37 hundred new cases on
Sunday night reaching a total of 188 thousand. In Europe, some of the countries
most affected by the pandemic, like Spain and Italy are renouncing some
quarantine measures after the number of infections started to decrease. The
governments in Rome and Madrid are taking measures to gradually revitalize
their economies. Spain decided to resume activities in some manufacturing
industries and in construction while the Italian authorities will allow the
resumption of some businesses. Several strict measures will still be in place
with some companies to limit the number of infections, while the authorities
are going to provide millions of masks to the workers

(translated by
bill)

13 April 2020
April 10, 2020 UPDATE

TOLL 265 new cases of infection with
the new coronavirus have been registered in Romania of late raising the total
number to 5467, the Group of Strategic Communication announced on Friday. The
virus has so far killed 270 people whereas 729 have been declared healed and
were allowed to leave hospitals. Health minister Nelu Tataru told a private TV
channel that at this moment the number of those infected could be around 10-12
thousand, but this number can change in the following two weeks, which are
considered ‘difficult’. 42 Romanians have been killed by the virus abroad. 684
Romanian nationals have been confirmed infected with the new virus abroad.

DECREE A new
military decree has been issued in Romania, where a state of emergency is in
place, banning the export of a number of products such as wheat, barley, oats,
corn, wheat flour, sunflower oil, sugar and bakery products. The decree also
allows produce markets to stay open for the duration of the state of emergency,
given the upcoming Catholic Easter this weekend and the Orthodox Easter next
weekend. In the run-up to the Easter holidays, shops are also allowed to extend
their opening hours. Interior minister Marcel Vela, who presented the new
decree, used the opportunity to again call on the population to respect social
distancing guidelines and on the Romanians living abroad not to travel to
Romania for the Easter holidays.

WORKERS
Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban told a public TV station that between
80,000 and 90,000 Romanian nationals may travel abroad for work in the coming
period. He explained these are employment contracts agreed between Romanian
citizens and foreign companies, such as from Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and
the Netherlands, especially in the farming sector. Orban criticised, however,
the manager of the Cluj Napoca airport, in the north-west of the country, who
did not inform the authorities about the departure of 2,000 seasonal workers to
Germany on Thursday, which led to chaos on the airport and infringement of
coronavirus restrictions. Flights due to leave on Friday from Iasi, in the east
of the country, and supposed to take 400 Romanian workers to Germany, were
cancelled. The measure was taken in keeping with a military decree banning
assemblies in public spaces. The airport management had previously asked the
security forces to help enforce social distancing rules to prevent a situation
like that in Cluj.

MEASURES EU
finance ministers have agreed on an emergency rescue package for the member
states worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Over 500 billion euros are made
available to help workers, businesses and governments. The agreement was
reached after talks in Brussels, which press agencies say were made difficult
by the divisions between the northern nations, especially the Dutch, and the
countries in the south of Europe, which were worst hit by the outbreak and
whose economies are more fragile. Italy and Spain have called for access to
funds that they can spend as they see fit, while the Dutch insisted on strict
conditions. A compromise was reached in the end, with the emergency package
also making available a consolidated credit line of 240 billion euros, with
countries being able to borrow up to 2% of their GDPs.

INFLATION The annual inflation rate in Romania stayed at 3% in March, while the
prices of food products grew by 5.11%, that of services by 3.8% and that of
non-food products by 1.39%, according to a report by the National Institute for
Statistics. The National Bank forecasts an inflation rate of 3% for the whole
year.

10 April 2020
April 9, 2020

TOLL The number of Romanians killed by the new coronavirus has today reached
229 – the Strategic Communication Group has announced. The number of those
infected stands at nearly 5 thousand. Two Romanians who came from Italy in
March, have again tested positive for the virus ten days after being released
from hospitals. 651 Romanians have been infected abroad, 400 of them in Italy.
37 Romanian nationals have died abroad since the outbreak.

CONTRACTION The government in Bucharest
is expecting an economic contraction between 1 and 3% after the crisis
triggered by the pandemic, but a real percentage will be calculated only after
April 15th, the country’s Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has told a
private TV channel. The Romanian official has explained that 30% of the economy
has already been affected while budget revenues significantly diminished adding
that another factor to influence the situation is the way in which the other EU
economies are going to react, as many businesses in Romania are depending on
those in the EU.

COVID The number of coronavirus infections has reached 1.5 million worldwide
and 88 thousand people have already been killed by the virus. 330 thousand have
been cured by the disease though. In the USA, the country, where the pandemic
had a rapid evolution, 430 thousand people have been infected and 15 thousand
died so far. Europe remains the most affected continent with 770 thousand
infections and 61 thousand dead, most of them in Spain, Italy, France and
Germany. The European Commission yesterday proposed a ban on unessential trips
to the EU until May 15th extending the present restrictions.
According to the Commission, the measures taken to fight the disease must be applied
for more than 30 days to be effective. At the same time the European Commission
president Ursula von de Leyen has called on the EU members to eliminate
interdiction over the export of medicines to avoid shortages in the bloc. The
European center for disease prevention and control has cautioned there are
still no signs that Europe has reached the peak of the pandemic.

REFUNDS Airline companies must reimburse customers for the flights
cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Union transport commissioner
Adina Valean told Reuters news agency on Wednesday. The commissioner has rejected
calls from carriers to relax EU rules in the field, adding that wider support
from the European institutions is needed in order to implement such a
relaxation. Airlines also seek government support, saying that refunding
hundreds of thousands of tickets will drain them of money. Romanian Transport
Minister Lucian Bode yesterday announced that Bucharest is having talks with
the European Commission for a financial support of 130 billion Euros for
Romanian air transport companies Tarom and Blue Air
currently affected by the pandemic.

(translated by bill)

9 April 2020
March 29, 2020 UPDATE 2

UPDATE 2

1815 cases of Covid-19 infection were reported on Sunday in Romania where 43 people have died. 206 patients have been cured but 12 Romanian nationals have lost their lives abroad, most of them in Italy.

————

PANDEMIC According to doctor Alexandru Rafila, chair of the Romanian Society of Microbiology, on Monday Romania may exceed 2 thousand COVID-19 infections, which could prompt the authorities to declare a four-degree alert. The Romanian doctor said that patients should receive proper care outside hospitals so that these facilities may not become overcrowded. According to Rafila 80% of those identified have an easy or mild form of the disease and only 20% are in severe or critical condition. 1760 cases of infection were reported on Sunday in Romania where 42 people have died. 169 patients have been cured but 12 Romanian nationals have lost their lives abroad, most of them in Italy. Health Minister Nelu Tataru said that 200 thousand Romanians returned home and another 200 thousand are expected before Easter. The pandemic is expected to reach its peak in mid-April when the number of infections could reach 10 thousand.

FLIGHTS Between March 30th and April 30th, Romanias national air company TAROM is suspending its flights to Istanbul to comply with the restrictions imposed by the authorities. The aforementioned flights could be rescheduled without additional taxes. TAROM has this week decided to suspend its flights to Germany and France as well as its domestic ones as part of the measures imposed to contain the pandemic. The measure does not apply to the transport of goods, mail, humanitarian or medical aid or equipment. The European Commission in February approved a loan of 36.5 million Euros for TAROM, which is currently facing a shortage of liquidity caused by the rising maintenance costs of its aging fleet.

DRAFT The European Commission is proposing a new multiannual draft budget to cope with the economic consequences of the COVID pandemic, the head of the European Executive, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced according to AFP reports. The European official has added that the draft will include a start plan aimed at guaranteeing cohesion inside the Union through solidarity and responsibility. In a video-conference on Thursday the 27 EU leaders failed to agree upon a firm economic response to this unprecedented crisis currently affecting the region.

COVID Over 30 thousand people have been killed by the coronavirus around the globe as the total number of infections has today exceeded 660 thousand. Over 10 thousand people died in Italy, while the USA reported 2000 deaths. Britain has reported 1000 deaths while Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called on the Brits to stay at home pledging tougher measures to contain the pandemic. China has reported 45 new cases mostly citizens coming from abroad. Air companies have been asked to significantly reduce the number of international flights and restrictions have been imposed to citizens willing to enter the country.

EQUIPMENT A plane of the Romanian Air Force has brought medical equipment from South Korea as part of the Romanian authorities efforts to fight the COVID pandemic. The shipment also includes 100 thousand hazmat suits. In 2008, Romania, as a founding member, signed a memorandum of understanding for the creation of the Multinational Strategic Transport Unit together with other NATO countries like Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia the USA and Hungary as well as two countries from the Partnership for Peace, Finland and Sweden. Also on Saturday, Romanias president Klaus Iohannis and Prime Minister Ludovic Orban paid a visit to a big military camp hospital mounted close to Bucharest. The unit had been previously used in treating infectious diseases such as Ebola and participated in a series of NATO exercises such as Saber Guardian 19 and Vigorous Warrior 19, the biggest medical exercise NATO has so far staged in Romania.

(translated by bill)

29 March 2020
March 25, 2020

POLICE Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has today conveyed a message on
the occasion of Romanian Police Day calling on the policemen to be role models
of conduct and responsibility to apply the law with firmness and respect for human
dignity. In his message, Iohannis describes the Romanian police as an
institution with an essential role in maintaining public order guaranteeing the
safety of all the Romanian citizens. The Romanian president says quote even if
the enemy is an invisible one, the fight is as real as it can be and there is a
fight that we must win.

DRILL 82 sailors from Romania’s Navy are in the
Mediterranean to ensure the command of NATO anti-mine group SNMCMG-2, Standing
NATO Mines Countermeasures Group. Romanian warship Vice-Admiral Constantin
Balescu has so far travelled over 55 hundred miles since its departure from the
Romanian port of Constanta. The Romanian sailors are participating in enforcing
collective security measures on the southern flank of the North Atlantic
Alliance to prove Romania’s solidarity with its NATO partners. The Romanian war
vessel has so far conducted a series of maneuvers part of this mission together
with their counterparts from Germany, Turkey, Italy and Canada.

MEASURES Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis is today having talks with the
country’s Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, Interior Minister Marcel Vela, Finance
Minister Florin Citu, the country’s Defence Minister Nicolae Ciuca, the
Minister of Economy Virgil Popescu and the Minister of Labour and Social
Protection Violeta Alexandru on the measures taken in order to contain the
COVID-19 pandemic. Circulation around the city has been restricted and people
over 65 years are allowed to leave their homes only between 11 and 13 hours.
All those returning from abroad will be placed in home isolation or quarantined.

COVID-19 The pandemic continues to spread around the
world. Spain, Europe’s second affected country, on Tuesday requested help from
NATO for test kits and protection masks. Spain has registered a new record
death toll of 514 in the past 24 hours. The total death toll in this country comes
close to 3000 and the number of confirmed cases has exceeded 42 thousand. In
Italy, the number of deaths exceeded 68 hundred. Lombardy, in the north,
remains Italy’s most affected region. France has also reported 11 hundred
deaths while Germany 159. The virus has killed 780 people in the United States
and 19 hundred in Iran.

(translated by bill)

25 March 2020
March 23, 2020

TOLL Another Romanian has been killed
by the new coronavirus raising the death toll in this country to four. 433
persons have been declared infected with the virus in Romania. Out of them 64
have been cured and left hospitals. The patients’ average age is 41. 8 Romanians
have been killed by the disease abroad, 7 in Italy and one in France. As of
Sunday night the Romanian authorities have banned circulation, asking people to
remain indoors between 22 and 6 hours in order to limit the outbreak.
Circulation will be allowed only for people traveling to their jobs and for
shopping. Authorities are recommending that people strictly limit trips during daytime.

TESTS China is carrying out its first
medical tests over a vaccine against the new coronavirus against the background
of international efforts to find a way of containing the outbreak. At present
there is no vaccine or approved treatment against COVID 19, which has so far
infected over 341 thousand people in nearly 200 countries and territories and
killed 14,500 all over the world, most of them in Italy. Experimental medical
studies will be carried out on 32 hundred patients in several European
countries, the Health Ministry in France has announced. The situation is
worsening in the USA, where over 10 thousand fresh cases have been registered
of late placing the country on the third position of the most affected
countries after China and Italy. South Korea has declared the smallest number
of infections after the peak was reached in this country four weeks ago.

MINISTER Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban is today taking a second
test for the new coronavirus. If the test is negative, the Prime Minister will
be out of the quarantine period of 14 days and resume activity at the
government. Orban took his first test on March 13th after having
come into contact with senator Vergil Chitac during a National Liberal Party’s
session on March 9. Although the Prime Minister’s first test was negative, but
he was placed in quarantine and worked from home.

GAMES A decision to postpone the Olympic Games in Tokyo could become
inevitable in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, which prevents the staging
of the event in safe conditions, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has today
admitted. The Japanese official has reiterated that his country remains
committed to staging the aforementioned competition in the best conditions.
Last week UEFA decided to postpone for a year the European Championship of 2020
due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bucharest would stage four games in the
competition, three in the groups and one in the round of 16. Romania still
stands chances to qualify by means of the Nations League play-off due to take
place in June. Romania will be playing Iceland in an away game and if
qualified, it would play the winner of the match pitching Hungary against
Bulgaria.

(translated by bill)

23 March 2020
13.03.2020 (mise à jour)

Coronavirus en Roumanie – Le nombre des cas d’infections confirmées au coronavirus est à la hausse. Selon les autorités, près de 2300 personnes sont en quarantaine et quelque 14 mille sont en isolement à domicile alors que le nombre des personnes infectées a dépassé les 80. Depuis l’apparition du virus en Roumanie, 6 personnes testées positives ont été déclarées guéries. Les écoles et les maternelles restent fermées jusqu’au 22 mars, tandis que les universités ont suspendu les cours jusqu’à la fin du mois. La distribution à l’étranger des médicaments et du matériel sanitaire utilisés pour combattre le coronavirus a été arrêtée pour six mois. Les événements culturels et de divertissement avec plus de 100 personnes et qui se déroulent dans des espaces fermés ont eux aussi été suspendus jusqu’au 31 mars. L’armée enverra du personnel militaire médical pour renforcer les procédures de tri épidémiologique dans les points de passage frontaliers du sud, de l’ouest et du nord-ouest de la Roumanie. Les passagers roumains en provenance d’Italie, de Chine, d’Iran, de Corée du Sud, d’Allemagne, de France et d’Espagne sont placés en quarantaine ou en isolement à domicile. Le trafic aérien a diminué considérablement sur l’aéroport Otopeni de Bucarest, on estime avoir 20% moins de vols et 30% moins de passagers. Le chef de l’Etat rejette de son côté que certaines villes puissent être placées en quarantaine et demande aux citoyens de s’informer uniquement de sources officielles afin d’éviter la propagation des rumeurs et des fake news. Il assure que les autorités en charge de la gestion de cette crise ont pris à temps les mesures nécessaires afin de limiter les effets négatifs, mais attire l’attention sur le fait que les mesures mises en place doivent être respectées à la lettre par tous les Roumains.

Coronavirus dans le monde – L’Europe est le nouvel épicentre de la pandémie COVID 19 a déclaré vendredi, l’Organisation mondiale de la santé qui a annoncé que le seuil des 5000 décès a déjà été dépassé. Vendredi également, la Commission européenne a déclaré que le nouveau coronavirus était une urgence majeure de santé publique pour les citoyens, les sociétés et les économies des Etats membres et un choc économique majeur pour l’UE. La Commission utilisera tous les instruments dont elle dispose pour atténuer les conséquences de la pandémie. Alors qu’en Chine, le nombre des infections et des décès est à la baisse, en Europe et aux Etats Unis elles sont à la hausse. En Italie, pays le plus touché au monde après la Chine et le pays européen le plus touché par la pandémie de Covid 19 , le nombre des cas a dépassé le seuil des 15 mille avec 2500 nouveaux cas en un seul jour. Le nombre des décès est de plus d’un millier et tout le pays est désormais en quarantaine. La République de Moldova suspendra tous les vols vers des destinations européennes à partir de ce dimanche pour une période de 2 semaines a annoncé le premier ministre Ion Chicu . Les Etats-Unis interdisent à partir d’aujourd’hui l’entrée dans le pays de toute personne ayant voyagé ces 14 derniers jours dans l’espace Schengen. Une mesure qui s’appliquera pour les prochaines 30 jours. L’UE a condamné les mesures, affirmant qu’elles avaient été prises d’une manière unilatérale et sans consultations.

Politique – Les sénateurs et députés roumains voteront ce samedi l’investissement du gouvernement dirigé par le chef de file libéral Ludovic Orban, ont décidé les bureaux permanents réunis des deux chambres du législatif. Les procédure sont tout à fait spéciales vu les mesures de protection contre l’infection au nouveau coronavirus. Le président roumain, Klaus Iohannis a désigné à nouveau le leader du parti national libéral Ludovic Orban au fauteuil de premier ministre, affirmant que tous les partis et les formations parlementaires lui avaient promis de s’implique pour investir rapidement un nouveau gouvernement. Le chef de l’Etat qui a organisé des consultations avec les partis politiques par téléconférence a précisé avoir reçu une seule proposition de premier ministre désigné, en la personne de Ludovic Orban. La décision de lancer de nouvelles consultations a été prise après que ce lundi, le libéral Florin Cîtu, l’actuel ministre des finances par intérim, eut décidé de renoncer au mandat de premier ministre désigné. La décision de M Cîtu est survenue juste avant le début de la réunion du Parlement consacrée au vote d’investiture du gouvernement. Rappelons le, le gouvernement Ludovic Orban a été destitué par motion de censure le mois dernier. Le président Klaus Iohannis a désigné le même Orban à former un nouvel exécutif, mais celui-ci a dû déposer son mandat suite à une décision de la Cour Constitutionnelle.

Météo – Temps très doux en Roumanie, notamment sur le sud, mais à partir de samedi dans la soirée et jusqu’à dimanche matin, les températures devront chuter à travers le pays. Sur l’est, le sud-est et le sud, des précipitations sont attendues. Elles débuteront par des pluies et se poursuivront par de la giboulée et par des chutes de neige. La vitesse du vent sera assez élevée pour arriver jusqu’à 70 km à l’heure. Les températures iront de 0 à 10 degrés durant la nuit et ne dépasseront pas les 17 degrés le jour.

13 March 2020
The date of local elections in Romania, uncertain

All major decisions in Romania are subordinated to the top priority of preventing the coronavirus from spreading. This is the conclusion of the meeting between the acting Prime Minister, the Liberal Ludovic Orban and the parliamentary parties, on setting the date for the local elections. The Social Democrats have not attended the meeting saying that the Liberals seem to have other priorities than the obvious ones.

Most political leaders who have taken part in the consultations have agreed to June 28, the date proposed by the Liberals, as the date for the local elections. However, it all depends on how the coronavirus epidemic evolves. According to Ludovic Orban, the increase in temperatures was considered when setting the date for the election campaign, so that, depending on the evolution of the coronavirus epidemic, the impact on the campaign should be small. Also, by June 28, the exam sessions in schools and high-schools would have ended, allowing for the buildings to host polling stations.

The head of the Save Romania Union, Dan Barna, has explained that his party supports the idea of holding local elections at the end of June, and, if the coronavirus epidemic grows, he agrees to the postponement of the elections until fall. Victor Ponta, leader of the Pro Romania party, has said local elections should not be held if the number of infections increases and becomes uncontrollable and has insisted on the fact that the country needs a stable government, able to take all necessary measures to fight the epidemic. Eugen Tomac, head of the Peoples Movement Party, has shared Pontas opinion. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania would have preferred the elections to be held on June 14, but he also agrees with the date proposed by the Liberals, according to party leader, Kelemen Hunor.

The representative of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, Varujan Vosganian, has said in his turn that, alongside measures aimed at protecting citizens health, the government should also consider measures aimed at protecting the economy, against the background of serious turbulences on the financial markets triggered by the coronavirus outbreak. Romanias government might be endorsed on Thursday in Parliament, when the new cabinet proposed by the Liberal Florin Citu is voted on. (translation by E. Enache)

11 March 2020
March 10, 2020 UPDATE

COVID-19 Romania has reported over 100 people in institutional quarantine
and under medical investigation for possible infection with COVID-19, the Group
of Strategic Communication has announced. Over 11,500 people are in home
isolation and currently under medical monitoring. 28 cases of infection with
the new virus have been confirmed at national level while 5 people have been
declared cured and released from hospitals. All the patients under treatment
are generally in good condition, while the elderly and those suffering from
chronic conditions are being carefully monitored. On Monday, the National
Committee for Special Emergency Situations has decided to suspend courses in under-graduate
schools over March 11th and 22nd in order to prevent the
spreading of the disease. Road and rail transports between Romania and Italy have
been suspended until March 31st 2020. Air companies have to announce
their travelers from Italy, China, Iran and South Korea that they are going to
be quarantined in Romania.

EPIDEMIC The entire population of Italy, nearly 60 million people, were
put under lockdown because of the COVID-19 epidemic, after the government
decided to extend the restrictions introduced in northern Italy across the
country. According to the Radio Romania correspondent, the order signed last
night by PM Conte urges companies to allow employees to take annual leaves, so
as to reduce travelling even for professional purposes. The decision comes
after the number of coronavirus cases in Italy has reached over 10,000, with
over 630 deaths. The new action plan, dubbed by PM Conte I’m staying home, took
effect on Tuesday and is to stay in force until April 3. Travelling
across the Peninsula has been restricted, except for emergencies, healthcare or
business purposes. All schools and universities will be closed until April 3,
public gatherings are forbidden, the football championship is suspended, and
bars and restaurants will only be open until 6PM.

GDP The Gross Domestic Product went up 0.1% in the Euro zone
and 0.2% in the EU in the 4th quarter of 2019 compared to the previous
quarter, according to data released on Tuesday by Eurostat, AFP reports. Among
Member States, the strongest growth was reported in Ireland (1.8%), Malta
(1.7%) and Romania (1.5%). In year-on-year terms, in Q4 2019 compared to the
corresponding period of 2018, the GDP rose by 1% in the euro zone and 1.2% in
the EU. The member countries with the highest growth rates were Ireland (6.3%),
Hungary (4.6%), Malta (4.3%) and Romania (4.2%). For Romania, figures made
public previously by the National Statistics Institute indicate that in 2019
the GDP rose by 4.1% since 2018.

TALKS Romania’s acting PM Ludovic Orban on Tuesday held talks with
parliamentary parties and groups, on the roadmap for early elections. The vote
could be held in June, but coronavirus concerns have prompted proposals to
postpone it to this autumn, when parliamentary elections are also due. The only
party that announced it would not take part in the talks is the Social Democratic
Party, which claimed the political agenda of the National Liberal Party is
completely at odds with the current priorities of the Romanian citizens.
Meanwhile, on Thursday Parliament will be holding the investiture vote for the
Cabinet headed by the PM designate Florin Citu.

(translated by bill)

10 March 2020
March 7, 2020 UPDATE

COVID-19 On Saturday
night Bucharest reported its first infection with coronavirus, a 49 year old
Romanian national who came back from Italy in February. Romania has so far confirmed
12 infections with COVID-19, the Group of Strategic Communication in Bucharest
has announced. Three of the people infected have been declared cured and have
left hospitals but the others are still being treated in medical centers across
Romania. 16 people have been quarantined and other 13 thousand are isolated at
home. Almost 6 thousand infections with the new coronavirus have been reported
in Europe, most of the cases in Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the United
Kingdom. China, the country where the virus was first discovered in December, has
reported 28 new cases but no infection has been discovered in the Hubei
province, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, for the second day in a row.
The World Health Organization has reiterated its appeal that all countries should
make containing the coronavirus outbreak their top priority. The virus has so
far made it to 97 countries infecting over 100 thousand and killing 35 hundred
mostly in China.

RUGBY Romania’s national rugby side on Saturday was outperformed by Russia
25-32 in an away game counting towards the fourth leg of Rugby Europe
Championship, the continent’s second major competition after the Six Nations
Championship. This has been Romania’s third defeat after the away matches
against Georgia and Portugal. Our players only managed a 24-7 home win against
Spain and will further take on Belgium also at home on March 14th.

TENNIS According
to the WTA webpage, the world’s no. 2 tennis player Simona Halep of Romania has
withdrawn from the Indian Wells tennis tournament due to begin in California
next week to recover from injuries. In 2015 Halep won her first Premier
Mandatory title in Indian Wells after a finals win against Jelena Jankovic of
Serbia. Last year’s finalist Angelique Kerber of Germany has also announced her
intention not to participate for the same reason. This year’s edition of the
prestigious sporting event will bring together 73 of the world’s best 80
players.

MIGRATION Turkey is repatriating
the Syrian migrants at the border with Greece after a ceasefire for the Syrian
province of Idlib was signed by the Turkish and Russian presidents, Recep
Erdogan and Vladimir Putin respectively. Authorities in Ankara have already
informed the migrants that the EU border has been closed down and that buses
have been made available to take them to Istanbul and from there back to Syria.
However the Greek border forces remain on high alert after Turkish Interior
Minister Suleyman Soylu on Friday announced Ankara’s intention to deploy 1,000
policemen along the Evros River at the border with Greece in order to prevent
Athens from rejecting the migrants attempting to cross it. Romania’s interim
Interior Minister Marcel Vela has informed the Greek authorities that Romania
will increase the number of border police and their equipment in Greece. So,
besides the 21 border police already stationed in Greece, Romania decided to
add 8 more for the ground monitoring as well as a patrol ship with 24 crew
members and two experts as part of the operational assistance plan for Greece,
carried out under the aegis of the European Asylum Support Office.

GOVERNMENT The Romanian Parliament will next week set a date for
the investiture vote for the cabinet led by Prime Minister Designate Florin
Catu. A joint session could be scheduled next Friday at the latest. 16 proposed
ministers have been interviewed this week and nine of them got endorsement. The
Catu cabinet has to muster 233 votes for Parliament support. We recall the
first Liberal government, led by Ludovic Orban (leader of the National Liberal
Party) has been sacked through a no-confidence vote. Orban’s second appointment
was contested at the Constitutional Court by his Social Democratic opponents
and the court, which took into consideration the declared intentions of the
Liberals and the president to trigger snap elections and not to get a
Parliament majority for the investiture vote, eventually ruled against Orban’s second
appointment.

(translated by bill)

7 March 2020
March 7, 2020

COVID-19 Romania has
so far confirmed 9 infections with COVID-19, the Group of Strategic
Communication in Bucharest has announced. Three of the people infected have
been declared cured and have left hospitals but the other 6 people are still being
treated in medical centers in Timisoara, western Romania, Cluj Napoca, in the
north-west, Iasi, in the east, and Craiova, in southern Romania. 16 people have
been quarantined and other 13 thousand are isolated at home. Almost 6 thousand
infections with the new coronavirus have been reported in Europe, most of the
cases in Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. China, the
country where the virus was first discovered in December, has reported 28 new
cases but no infection has been discovered in the Hubei province, the epicenter
of the coronavirus outbreak, for the second day in a row. WHO has reiterated its
appeal that all the countries should make containment of the coronavirus outbreak their top
priority. The virus has so far made it to 97 countries infecting over 100
thousand people.

GOVERNMENT The Romanian Parliament will next week set a date for
the investiture vote for the cabinet led by Prime Minister Designate Florin
Catu. A joint session could be scheduled next Friday at the latest. 16 proposed
ministers have been interviewed this week and nine of them got endorsement. The
Catu cabinet has to muster 233 votes for Parliament support. We recall the
first Liberal government, led by Ludovic Orban (leader of the National Liberal
Party) has been sacked through a no-confidence vote. Orban’s second appointment
was contested at the Constitutional Court by his Social Democratic opponents
and the court, which took into consideration the declared intentions of the
Liberals and the president to trigger snap elections and not to get a
Parliament majority for the investiture vote, eventually ruled against Orban’s second
appointment.

MIGRATION Turkey is repatriating
the Syrian migrants at the border with Greece after a ceasefire for the Syrian
province of Idlib was signed by the Turkish and Russian presidents, Recep
Erdogan and Vladimir Putin respectively. Authorities in Ankara have already
informed the migrants that the EU border has been closed down and that buses
have been made available to take them to Istanbul and from there back to Syria.
However the Greek border forces remain on high alert after Turkish Interior
Minister Suleyman Soylu on Friday announced Ankara’s intention to deploy 1,000
policemen along the Evros River at the border with Greece in order to prevent
Athens from rejecting the migrants attempting to cross it. Romania’s interim
Interior Minister Marcel Vela has informed the Greek authorities that Romania
will increase the number of border police and their equipment in Greece. So,
besides the 21 border police already stationed in Greece, Romania decided to
add 8 more for the ground monitoring as well as a patrol ship with 24 crew
members and two experts as part of the operational assistance plan for Greece,
carried out under the aegis of the European Asylum Support Office.

TENNIS According
to the WTA webpage, the world’s no. 2 tennis player Simona Halep of Romania has
withdrawn from the Indian Wells tennis tournament due to begin in California
next week to recover from injuries. In 2015 Halep won her first Premier
Mandatory title in Indian Wells after a finals win against Jelena Jankovic of
Serbia. Last year’s finalist Angelique Kerber of Germany has also announced her
intention not to participate for the same reason. This year’s edition of the
prestigious sporting event will bring together 73 of the world’s best 80
players.

(translated by bill)

7 March 2020