Radio România Internațional

Tag: reopen

  • January 11, 2021

    January 11, 2021

    COVID-19 A 4th batch of Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccine reached Romania on Monday morning. The 150,000 doses were delivered to the airports in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara, and will be taken to the Cantacuzino Institute in Bucharest and in vaccination centres in the country. Since the start of the national vaccination programme over 108,000 people have received the anti-COVID-19 vaccine. Mild and common side effects have been reported in 350 cases. The vaccination programme coordinator, dr. Valeriu Gheorghiţă, said the authorities intend to step up the campaign. The second stage, covering the elderly and chronic patients, is set to begin on January 15. Meanwhile, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Romania since the onset of the pandemic is over 673,000, with the total death toll over 16,700. Over 1,000 patients are currently in intensive care, and nearly 600,000 patients have recovered so far.



    PANDEMIC A team of World Health Organisation experts in charge with investigating the coronavirus origins and expected to arrive in China last week, will begin its mission on Thursday, the Chinese health ministry announced on Monday, according to France Presse and Reuters. This has been a sensitive issue to Beijing, which seeks to control the origin story of the pandemic that killed more than 1.9 million people worldwide, AFP reports. Originally scheduled for last week, the mission was cancelled at the last moment. The green light comes exactly 1 year after the first coronavirus death was reported in Chinas Wuhan. Nearly 91 million people have so far caught the virus, and more than 2-thirds of them have recovered.



    SCHOOLS Romanian students today resumed online classes after the winter holiday. Three weeks of online classes will be followed by one-week break before the second half of the academic year. The education ministry is to decide by the end of the month whether the second school semester, beginning on February 8, will see children back into schools. The National Student Council has requested decentralised decisions in this respect, so that schools may be reopened in areas with infection rates below 3 per thousand. The education minister Sorin Câmpeanu said in a recent meeting with relevant trade unions and teacher, student and parent associations, that it all depended on the latest COVID-19 developments, and that schools and kindergartens would most likely be reopened in stages depending on the local infection rate. Sorin Cîmpeanu also said that students and teachers health is important, but that covering the school curricula, especially for the students who have national exams scheduled this year, must also be taken into account.



    DEFICIT Romanias trade balance deficit deepened by some 910 million euros in the first 11 months of 2020 compared to the previous year, to 16.4 billion euros, according to data released on Monday by the National Statistics Institute. Between January 1 and November 30, 2020, exports totalled 57 billion euros and imports 73.5 billion. Compared to the corresponding period of 2019, exports dropped by 11%, and imports by nearly 8%.



    US In the US, the Democrats plan a vote in the House of Representatives on Monday to request vice-president Mike Pence to take steps to remove the outgoing president Donald Trump, using the 25th Amendment in the US Constitution and declaring Trump incapable of fulfilling the duties of his office. Should this fail, the Democrats could move on to impeach Trump for inciting last weeks Capitol riots. Trump would be the first president in US history subject to impeachment procedures twice. His term in office ends on January 20, but the impeachment procedure may continue in the Senate even after Donald Trump leaves the White House.



    SPORTS The Romanian tennis player Mihaela Buzărnescu Monday won 6-4, 6-3 against Spains Lara Arruabarrena, in the Dubai qualifying draw for the Australian Open, due to take place between February 8 and 21. Also on Monday the Romanians Laura Paar and Monica Niculescu lost their qualifying matches. Irina Bara and Gabriela Talabă also lost the qualifiers on Sunday. Five Romanian players already have a spot in the Australian Open main draw: Simona Halep (2 WTA), Patricia Ţig (56 WTA), Sorana Cîrstea (71 WTA), Irina Begu (78 WTA) and Ana Bogdan (92 WTA). In the mens singles, Marius Copil is playing today in the qualifying round in Doha, Qatar. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • January 7, 2021

    January 7, 2021

    US The US Congress Thursday affirmed Democrat Joe Bidens win in the presidential election of November 3rd. This was the last step prior to Bidens inauguration scheduled for January 20th. The validation came after a long and troublesome day, marred by an assault on the Capitol by angry Trump supporters. Trump admitted the end of his term in office and promised “an orderly transition. At least 4 people died and 52 were arrested during the storming of the Capitol, police sources said. Leaders of democratic countries around the world voiced perplexity and concern, condemning the violence in Washington.




    VACCINE The European Commission Wednesday authorised the sale of a second anti-COVID-19 vaccine, the one developed by the US company Moderna, and previously greenlighted by the European Medicines Agency. The EC president Ursula von der Leyen said EU citizens will have another 160 million doses of vaccine available. According to AFP, over 1 million Europeans, accounting for 0.2% of the total, have received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, with Denmark, Germany and Italy on top positions. For the time being the only vaccine given in EU member states is the one produced by Pfizer/BioNTech.




    COVID-19 Over 58,000 people have received the anti-COVID-19 vaccine in Romania so far. A third batch of 150,000 doses arrived on Wednesday. The immunisation programme, whose first stage covered medical workers, started in late December. The second stage, scheduled to begin at the end of next week, will target vulnerable people and workers in key sectors. Authorities estimate the third phase, covering the rest of the citizens, may start in April. Since the onset of the pandemic, over 654,000 coronavirus infections have been reported in Romania, with the death toll standing at nearly 16,300.




    BUDGET The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis has a meeting today with PM Florin Cîţu, deputy PM Dan Barna and other Cabinet members, including the ministers of transport, economy, justice, investments and European projects, healthcare and research. The meeting comes amid talks on the 2021 state budget bill, which the Government plans to submit to Parliament in early February. PM Florin Cîţu asked ministers to present updated reports on the institutions they coordinate.




    SCHOOLS The Romanian education minister Sorin Cîmpeanu had talks today with trade unions and students and teachers associations, to look at the measures required in order to reopen schools, and to mitigate losses incurred by the education system during the health crisis. He promised to take all suggestions into account, so that the best education conditions may be ensured as of the second half of the school year. The minister added that this year’s national exams will be held face to face. Romanian students resume online classes on January 11th, and could return to face-to-face classes only on February 8th, when the second half of the academic year begins, should the situation allow it. The Social Democrats and AUR party in opposition, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, in the ruling coalition, support the reopening of schools.




    CORRUPTION Former environment minister Costel Alexe appeared today before the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, to be notified that prosecution has been commenced against him for bribe-taking and inciting embezzlement. Prosecutors claim that Alexe, currently chairman of the Iaşi County Council, received products worth over 20,000 euro in exchange for the release of CO2 certificates to the Galaţi Steel Works. Costel Alexe denies the accusations. (tr. A.M. Popescu)