Epidemiological alert declared in Romania due to high incidence of respiratory infections
Romania is under an epidemiological alert after the incidence of respiratory infections exceeded the average level calculated for the past few seasons for the third consecutive week. The Minister of Health estimates that the number of these cases will return to normal by the end of the month and emphasizes that no restrictions are being imposed.
Over 133,000 cases of respiratory infections and more than 9,000 cases of clinical flu were reported by doctors in just one week. These figures are much higher than those reported in the previous week. The data refers to the period between January 22 and 28, during which the National Institute of Public Health reported 11 new deaths confirmed with the flu virus, bringing the total number for this season to over 50.
The Minister of Health says that declaring an epidemic is not necessary, as the evolution is comparable to that of the viral season a year ago and there is only a delay of a few weeks. Alexandru Rafila mentions that the peak number of cases from 2023 may not be reached and estimates that the situation will improve towards the end of the month. In addition to the measures taken in medical units to ensure the necessary resources and limit the spread of respiratory diseases, there are a number of recommendations for schools. These include providing the necessary sanitary materials and informing parents and teachers about the symptoms and the importance of keeping children home if they have signs of respiratory infections.
Romania to have lithium-ion battery recycling plant by end of 2024
Romania will have a lithium-ion battery recycling plant by the end of next year, a facility that currently only exists in a few countries, including Germany and France. It will be the result of a Romanian-Australian partnership that will develop such a dedicated unit within a company that currently recycles batteries and alkaline batteries in Jilava. The investment is 40 million euros, in the context of the growing need for recycling all over the world.
Elena Gaspar Ion is the president of the National Battery Recycling System Association: „This type of battery has been the most widespread in recent years. They started slowly from laptop batteries. Now we find lithium in absolutely all batteries in everything we have from watches, phones, any toy, tablet, electric bicycles, scooters to hybrid cars and electric cars. We put a lot of things on the market that contain batteries like this. These batteries are dangerous, if they stay together for too long and in certain conditions, they can explode. Globally, lithium is a fairly limited resource and in this context, it is a precious but also dangerous resource. This need has somehow created the opportunity for these recycling facilities.”
Currently, the European lithium-ion battery recycling capacity is around 32,000 tonnes per year, but estimates point to a need for 400,000 tonnes per year by 2030. The new plant in Romania will have a capacity of 10,000 tonnes per year and will be able to recycle batteries from a wide range of sources, including electric vehicles, laptops, phones and power tools. The plant is expected to create around 100 jobs.
Fire at Romania’s largest hydroelectric power plant, Porţile de Fier 1
Romania’s largest hydroelectric power plant, Porţile de Fier 1, was affected last night by a violent fire that broke out at a high-power transformer installation. Due to the risk of explosion, firefighters from several counties intervened. The damages will be assessed this morning, and several investigations have begun to identify the causes, but there are already voices claiming that the insufficient funds allocated by Hidroelectrica for maintenance are to blame. The firefighters’ mission was difficult due to the scale of the fire and the risk of explosion, as Colonel Cristian Stanciu explains.
Cristian Stanciu: We found that the event was manifesting itself with a violent flame and high temperatures. After about half an hour, the fire was localized. We then continued to work for about two more hours until we declared it extinguished. It was a retention tank, somewhere around three meters of oil at one of the six transformers. Indeed, there was a risk of explosion.
Three hydroelectric units were shut down during the intervention, but without affecting the National Energy System.
Ianeș Rădoi, representative of the board of directors: In order to ensure the conditions for intervention, units four and six were shut down, during which time the energy produced here was compensated by the dispatcher, in the other internal production capacities.
Company representatives will assess the damage, and authorities will conduct an investigation.
Mădălina Brotăcel – RADOR RADIO ROMÂNIA/mbrotacel
