Covid-19 update. Romania today
reported over 10,000 new Covid cases and 32 related fatalities, including three recorded earlier. The
incidence rate is on the rise around the country, including the capital
Bucharest, which passed 3 cases per 1,000 inhabitants, entering the red tier.
Restaurants, cinemas, gyms and other venues can now only open at 30% capacity. Also,
schools where the vaccine uptake among staff is below 60% are moving to online
teaching. Romania has recorded 1.8 million infections and some 60,000 deaths
since the outbreak of the virus two years ago. Amid a sustained anti-vaccination
campaign waged by part of the media and some politicians and public figures,
Romania has the second lowest vaccination rate in the 27 EU member states,
after Bulgaria.
Travel. The National Committee for
Emergency Situations has updated the list of countries and territories with
high epidemiological risk. Cyprus, Ireland, Iceland, France, Greece, Denmark,
Portugal, Spain and the UK are now on the red list, with South Africa, Brazil
and India no longer red list countries. The yellow list includes Serbia, the
United Arab Emirates and Russia, while Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova are
on the green list. The updated list comes into effect on Sunday, 16th
January.
Culture Day. Romanians are today celebrating
National Culture Day and 122 years since the birth of their national poet Mihai
Eminescu, who is considered the last great representative of European
Romanticism. The holiday was established by Parliament in 2010 at the proposal
of the Romanian Academy. Romania's diplomatic and consular missions and
cultural institutes abroad are hosting special events. The president and prime
minister published special messages, recognising the difficulties faced by
artists because of the pandemic and the need to support them. The pandemic has
greatly affected the relationship between arts and culture creators and the
public, and if difficulties persist, a more complex approach is needed from the
state to support the cultural sector so as to make it more resilient, said
president Klaus Iohannis, while prime minister Nicolae
Ciucă said mobilisation is needed to help the cultural sector return to
something resembling normality. Eminescu's anniversary and National Culture Day
are also officially celebrated in the Republic of Moldova, the ex-Soviet neighbouring
state with a majority Romanian-speaking population, as well as in the Romanian
ethnic communities in other neighbouring countries and the diaspora.
Handball. The Romanian women's
handball side CSM Bucharest are tonight facing Buducnost Podgorica from
Montenegro in a Champions League Group A match. In their next match on 19th
January, the Romanian side are playing away against Brest Bretagne Handball
from France, followed by a home match against Borussia Dortmund from Germany on
22nd January. CSM Bucharest, who are coached by the manager of the
national side Adrian Vasile, aim to win all of their three matches this month.
They are currently 5th in their group with 8 points from 8 matches
played.
Tennis. Romania has five players in
the singles main draw at the Australian Open. In the opening round, former
world no. 1 Simona Halep will be playing Poland's Magdalena Frech; Sorana
Cîrstea will face Petra Kvitova, a difficult match for Cîrstea as Kvitova is
leaving 5-3 in their head-to-head; Irina Begu will play France's Oceane Dodin; Jaqueline
Cristian, the 23-year-old Romanian who is for the first time in Melbourne, will play
Belgian's Greet Minnen, while 24-year-old Gabriela Ruse, also for the first
time in this competition, will face Italy's Jasmine Paolini. (CM)