Romania Declares Flu Epidemic As Disease Death Toll Reaches 54
Romanian Health Minister Sorina Pintea officially declared a flu epidemic throughout the country on Wednesday morning, following three consecutive weeks in which the number of new cases outgrew predictions and 54 deaths caused by the disease.
The minister said that the base flu virus spread through the epidemic manifests in lesser and medium forms of intensity, and is fully countered by flu shots distributed throughout the country.
“We cannot say we are facing a more severe flu season compared to the previous one, but there was a higher number of deaths recorded in less time. The difference is that we have a bigger number of cases and a bigger number of clinically confirmed cases. The flu is evolving all around the country, even if it does so at different intensities,” Pintea said in a press conference on Wednesday.
She added that specialists estimate the intense circulation of the virus to continue throughout February.
The Health Ministry previously announced on Tuesday evening that the virus caused the death of 54 people since the start of the current flu season, of which 49 were also suffering from other medical conditions. (puterea.ro)
Ruling Party Leader: Local Communities To Receive Largest Budget In History In 2019
The chairman of Romania’s ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD) announced on Wednesday that local authorities will receive “their largest budget in Romanian history”, of about RON77 billion, amid criticism received from municipality mayors on the lack of debate surrounding the budget.
In what he deemed “a win-win situation for local authorities”, Dragnea announced in a post on his Facebook page that local communities will receive “almost half of the entire state budget”, about RON77 billion, will keep all revenue from the income tax of their citizens and that each county would have a budget of at least RON400 per citizen, up from the previous RON250 per citizen.
“Town halls will directly keep 60% of the income, as they requested, while the other 40% will go towards county budgets, of which 20% will return to the same town halls for balancing. Citizens of Bucharest will also have more than before. There will be decentralization of finances, local officials will take on some Government spending, but they will be left with RON9 billion more than they had before,” said Dragnea.
“From now on, they will have both the bread and the knife, but this requires them to be more responsible towards citizens: more careful in recurring spending and more funds for investments requested by the community,” the PSD leader added.
Dragnea’s announcement was made while a delegation of Romanian municipalities’ mayors was attending talks with Prime Minister Viorica Dancila at the Government’s headquarters on Wednesday afternoon, amid discontent over the lack of debate regarding the state budget for 2019.
Bucharest Mayor Gabriela Firea announced before the meeting that the Government had proposed earlier in the day, during an informal meeting, a reduction of the city’s budget by about EUR70-80 million compared to last year, which she says would block key infrastructure projects and the purchase of hundreds of new buses.
On Wednesday morning, the mayors threatened with protests if local administration do not receive one third of the country’s budget for the year.
In a letter sent to the Government, the mayor’s association also criticized the fact that the draft budget for 2019 was not made available for debate, adding that they found out from the press that it will be passed by Thursday.
“It is for the first time in AMR history when our requests for dialogue with Romanian Government, on issues directly regarding the functioning of public local administration are refused, so that none of our requests were answered,” the association stated in its letter. (jurnalul.ro)
Romanian PM: We Commit To Adopting The Euro In 2024
Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila announced on Wednesday that the Government will assume a 2024 deadline for the country to adopt the euro, with the executive body to send the European Commission documents related to the process.
According to the prime minister, the Government will send the national plan for adopting the euro and its reasoning report.
“Adopting the euro is a complex, large-scale project, which must be prepared thoroughly by implicating specialists, the academic field, owners, unions, political parties, the civil society and of course all institutions with responsibilities in the area (…) We commit to the objective of adopting the euro in 2024,” the Romanian PM said at the beginning of Wednesday’s cabinet meeting.
The chief of cabinet said that Romania will initially focus on measures necessary for joining the European exchange rate mechanism, as the first step towards Eurozone accession. (puterea.ro)
Leu Keeps Appreciating Vs Euro
The Romanian currency firmed Wednesday against the euro, gaining 0.46% on the day and posting a midday reference rate of 4.7555 units to the euro.
On Tuesday, the leu stood at 4.7601 units per euro.
The leu stagnated against the US dollar, which is quoted indirectly on the Romanian market, standing at 4.1600 units on Wednesday.
The leu also gained ground against the Swiss franc on Wednesday, standing at 4.1768 units, from 4.1930 units on Tuesday.
The price of gold grew to RON175.6142 per gram on Wednesday, from RON174.6695 per gram on Tuesday. (jurnalul.ro)