Friday, November 6th

Romania reports a record number of new COVID-19 cases

More than 10.000 cases of new COVID-19 infections have been confirmed in Romania since Thursday until Friday at noon, marking the first time since the pandemic started when Romania has topped this threshold in one day. Also, for the first time in the latest months, Bucharest is no longer the first area with most cases count, with 630 new cases. It was overridden by the county of Cluj, with 722 cases and Timis, where 665 new infections were reported. There were also significant rises in the number of cases in Sibiu and Brasov, with more than 400 cases each. Out of more than 12,000 COVID patients admitted to hospital, 1,001 are currently in Intensive Case. Authorities also reported 123 deaths associated with COVID-19, in the lat 24 hours.

The electoral campaign for parliamentary elections has started in Romania, amid the pandemic

The campaign for general elections in Romania has kick-started on Friday, with candidates havind to observe the sanitary protection and physical distancing measures in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The main parties that signed up for these elections are PMP, PNL, PSD, PRO Romania, UDMR and USR in alliance with PLUS and there are also smaller parties and independend candidates fighting for the 329 Deputy Chambers seats and 136 Senate seats. Voters will choose party lists and then deputies and senators will be designated on the basis of representativeness. The electoral campaign will end on Saturday, December 5th and the elections will be held on Sunday, December 6th.

Romania is introducing new restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19

The Romanian government has announced that new restrictions will come into force on Monday, November 9th, in order to limit the coronavirus outbreak, as the country has topped 10.000 daily infections. The National Emergencies Committee (CNSU) has submitted the proposal to make masks mandatory, to impose night time curfews and to shut schools all over the country. Classes are due to go online, social gatherings and parties will be banned, shops will close at 9:00 PM and indoor markets will also be shut. Pharmacies, gas stations and home-delivery businesses will operate as usual, observing the sanitary protection measures. The restrictions are due to be in place for 30 days and have to be approved by government decision.

Mădălina Brotăcel, RADOR