Radio România Internațional

Tag: vacciantion

  • August 5, 2021

    August 5, 2021

    Covid Ro ▪ Secretary of state with the Romanian Interior Ministry, Raed Arafat, insists on the population’s vaccination and wearing protective masks to reduce the risk of infection with the novel coronavirus. Invited in Radio Romania’s studios, he explained that the risk of an increasing number of cases daily is real, but everyone can help limit the spread of the virus. Raed Arafat pointed out that no new restrictions are being considered, and reminded that if the threshold of 2 cases per thousand inhabitants was exceeded, the rules in force before August 1 would be re-applied, and if the threshold of 3 cases per thousand inhabitants is exceeded, the measures will be tightened. Meanwhile, the number of new cases of coronavirus is growing. On Thursday, 244 new cases were reported out of over 28,000 tests. At the same time, 2 deaths were reported. 72 people are hospitalized in intensive care. The UK has included Romania on the green list of countries with epidemiological risk, which means that Romanians traveling to the UK will no longer have to be quarantined, regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not. However, the Romanian citizens who travel to the UK must present a negative PCR test performed before entering the territory of this country and need to take a second test two days after arrival. The measure takes effect on Sunday.



    COVID world ▪ Covid cases worldwide exceeded 200 million on Wednesday, according to a Reuters report, as the more contagious Delta variant is threatening the areas with low vaccination rates and precarious healthcare systems. The global increase in Covid cases highlights the difference between vaccination rates in rich and poor countries. According to Reuters, the number of cases is on the rise in about a third of the worlds countries, many of which have not vaccinated even half of the population with a first dose. The World Health Organization is calling for a postponement of the administration of a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, at least until the end of September, so as not to widen the gap between vaccination campaigns in rich and poor countries. Meanwhile, in some European countries, such as the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, the number of new cases of COVID-19 is decreasing, while in others the 4th wave of the pandemic is in full development.



    Exercise ▪ More than 350 military divers from Romania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, the US and Ukraine are participating in a multinational training exercise off the Romanian Black Sea Coast. The “Eurasian Partnership MCM Dive” exercise, which will last 4 days, is led by the Diving Center 39 within the Romanian Navy. The Romanian Navy also participates in the drill with the “Vice Admiral Constantin Bălescu” minesweeper ship, the “Captain Commander Alexandru Cătuneanu” Hydrographic Maritime Ship, as well as with an autonomous underwater vehicle. Ukraine participates with the rescue and recovery tug “Oleksandr Okhrimenko”. The purpose of the exercise is to consolidate the skills of military divers and to develop the participants’ interoperability in two domains, namely searching, identifying and destroying mines in historic mine dams and underwater activities with hydraulic tools.



    Fires ▪ The heat wave persists in several European countries, which have been fighting vegetation fires for more than several days. The authorities are on alert in Greece, where flames threatened the capital Athens on Wednesday. In Turkey, the damage is huge, and a thermal plant threatened by flames has been evacuated. Forest fires are spreading also in Bulgaria, where two forest rangers have died and a third one has been injured. Italy, Albania and northern Macedonia are also facing fires. The European Commission has said it will send planes, helicopters and firefighters to Italy, Greece, Albania and northern Macedonia to help these countries fight the fires.



    Talks ▪ Romanias ambassador to the United States, Andrei Muraru, stressed the importance of strengthening security of NATOs Eastern Flank, during a phone conversation with Jake Sullivan, US National Security Adviser, together with the ambassadors to Washington of the Bucharest-9 Format states, the Romanian Embassy in the US announced on Thursday on its Facebook page. The phone conversation was meant to consult NATO allies on US policies and activities of interest to the region. The Bucharest Format is an initiative launched by the presidents of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, and of Poland, Andrzej Duda, which includes NATO member states on the Eastern Flank participate: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. The American president Joe Biden also participated online in the summit organized in May this year in Bucharest.



    Meeting ▪ The Romanian government is meeting today for its weekly session. High on the executives agenda is the Emergency Ordinance repealing an article from a law regarding the impossibility of electricity and natural gas suppliers to cut off or disconnect bad payers during the state of alert period. The law established that disconnection could be done after the state of alert ended, but the Government wants to repeal this provision because they realized that the failure to collect money from final customers was felt by all parties involved in the processes of electricity and natural gas production and supply in Romania. The executive also discusses a decision that completes the methodological norms of the SME Invest program. This law is necessary because regulation is needed for some situations related to certain terms, to areas that can be supported through SME Invest and to areas that cannot be supported through this program. (LS)

  • January 23, 2021

    January 23, 2021

    COVID-19 – A 73-year-old woman from Romania died on Friday, on the same day when she was vaccinated against Covid-19. The National Vaccination Committee pointed out that the person had multiple chronic diseases and that her death was not caused by the vaccine. The national vaccination campaign in Romania has entered its second stage, when the elderly and the people with chronic diseases are going to be vaccinated. Other categories included in the 2nd vaccination stage are: the employees of key sectors, seafarers, members of the diplomatic missions, athletes participating in international competitions as well as the homeless and the disabled. In the first stage, vaccination was for the healthcare personnel. The Prime Minister Florin Cîţu said Saturday that the authorities maintain the objective of having at least 1.2 million Romanians vaccinated with both doses by the end of March and 10.4 million by the end of September. The Prime Minister also stressed the importance of continuing to observe anti-coronavirus protection rules everywhere and at all times. Despite the recommendation of the Romania Health Ministry, restrictions generated by Covid-19 will be partially lifted in Bucharest as of Monday – the Municipal Committee for Emergency Situations announced. Theaters, cinemas, restaurants, bars, cafes and gambling halls will be able to operate, but at a capacity of maximum 30%. Official data made public on Saturday show that 2,719 new COVID-19 cases have been identified in Romania following 26.700 tests made. Another 94 people have died from COVID-19. So far, more than 709 thousand cases have been reported in Romania, and about 90% of the patients have recovered.



    Travel – All persons reaching the US by air will be required to present, upon boarding, a negative SARS-CoV-2 test or a document attesting that they have been infected but have recovered. The negative test should be made 72 hours (3 days), at the most, prior to reaching the USA – the Romanian Foreign Ministry announced. The measure, which will apply to all people over the age of 2, including to US citizens, permanent residents and citizens transiting the US, will take effect on January 26. In another move, people in risk areas, including Romania, who travel to the Netherlands by air or sea, should present, starting on Saturday, a rapid test for the new coronavirus, made no later than four hours before departure. France will also require, as of Sunday at midnight, a negative PCR Covid-19 test that needs to be taken with a maximum of 72 hours before the trip. Exempted from the rule are road transporters and cross-border workers.



    Brussels – The European Ombudsman, quoted by Reuters, has announced the launch of an investigation into the way in which the European Commission is managing the contracts for the purchase of the Covid-19 vaccines concluded with pharmaceutical companies on behalf of the EU member states. The EU has spent about 2.5 billion Euros for down payments to buy about 2.3 billion doses of vaccine from six companies that have Covid-19 vaccines approved or in the experimental phase. The prices, delivery deadlines and other important clauses in the contracts are kept secret, the European Commission claiming that confidentiality is essential to obtain the best possible contractual conditions. However, the Ombudsmans inquiry concerns the EC’s refusal to provide public access to those documents. EU states have complained about insufficient vaccine deliveries and uncertain timelines.



    Expo — The Commissioner of the Romanian Section for Expo 2020 Dubai, Ferdinand Nagy, paid a working visit to the United Arab Emirates between January 17-21. He met with Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman of the Expo Dubai 2020 Steering Committee. During the talks, the two stressed the importance of bilateral relations, in the context of the Strategic Economic Partnership concluded in 2018. The Romanian official also had a meeting with Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation, both expressing confidence that Romanias presence at Expo 2020 Dubai will attract both the interest of visitors and of the business environment. Romania will participate in the World Exhibition with a national pavilion entitled New Nature. Expo 2020 Dubai will have the theme Connecting Minds, Creating the Future and will take place between October 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022.



    Chisinau – The president of the Committee for International Relations of the Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, Konstantin Kosaciov, virulently criticized the recent decision of the Constitutional Court in Chisinau, which declared unconstitutional the law that gave the Russian language a special status in Moldova, an ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population. Konstantin Kosaciov considers similar the Moldovan Constitutional Court’s decision and Ukraines decision of 16 January, which introduced the Ukrainian language to the countrys service sector, calling the decisions attacks on the Russian language. The Russian senator makes a link between the two measures and Republic of Moldova’s and Ukraine’s aspirations for European integration. In his opinion Russophobia becomes a systemic element of European policy, encouraged by the European Union in Russias neighborhood. The Romanian Ambassador to Chisinau, Daniel Ioniţă, on the contrary, has appreciated as correct and normal the decision of the Constitutional Court, this being an additional proof that the Romanian language must be known by all the citizens living on the territory of the Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova. (tr. L.Simion)