Wednesday, February 19th

No family doctors for more than half of Romania”s communities

As Romania’s health service is facing a crisis, more than a half of the country’s people are left with no family doctors. 53 percent of Romanians are unable to get a family doctor, according to a report issued by Romania’s National Federation of Family Doctors Employer Organisations on Tuesday. The crisis comes as thousands of highly skilled doctors leave to work in West European countries. Romania is not the only European country facing the crisis. However, many such countries tried to improve things. Access to health care is especially poor in rural areas while low funding and inefficient use of public resources hamper the health system. There is a weak link between planning decisions and population health needs, owing to a lack of appropriate information systems, according to an earlier EU report on the matter.

Second Romanian tested Covid-19 positive on Diamond Princess cruise ship

A second Romanian tested Covid-19 positive on board of Diamond Princess cruise ship. The Romanian is now treated at a hospital in Japan’s capital Tokyo, according to a Romanian Foreign Ministry press release on Wednsday. The Romanian citizen is a member of ship’s personnel, the ministry said. However, crew members aboard the Diamond Princess aren’t afforded many of the same protections as the passengers they serve. Public health experts have said cruise ships are especially susceptible to the spread of infectious diseases like Covid-19 because passengers are in close, frequent contact with each other. For the crew, it is even worse.

Constantin Brancusi at 144

Romania celebrates the 144th anniversary of Constantin Brancusi on Wednesday. For Romanians around th world, February 19 is the country’s Constantin Brancusi National Day. Seen as a pioneer of the modern art, Brancusi became one of the world’s best-selling artists as his works in bronze and marble are characterised by a restrained, elegant use of pure form and exquisite finishing. In 1956, Brancusi bequeathed his entire studio (completed works, sketches, furniture, tools, library, record library, photographs, etc.) to the French state, on condition that it undertook to reconstruct the studio just as it was at the artist’s death. The artist’s studio is opposite the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France. In Romania, Brancusi’s most famous work is an ensemble in the country’s south-western city of Târgu Jiu including the Endless Column, the Table of Silence and the Gate of Kiss.

RADOR – Alexandru Danga