Romania starts getting vaccinated (seriously) but Parliament rejects the green pass to work
Romania is the EU country with the highest percentage of new deaths from Covid, but the Senate has rejected the bill on the obligation of Green Pass in the workplace. Facts and numbers on what is happening
The fear of Covid has arrived in Romania. The worrying data on infections and deaths are pushing more and more citizens to get vaccinated, but yesterday the Senate rejected the bill that provides for the obligation to present the Green Pass in the workplace.
INFECTIONS AND DEATH
October 18 was the day on which Romania recorded the worst records since the beginning of the pandemic: 18,863 new infections and 574 deaths, bringing the total of people who lost their lives due to Covid to 45,503 – 93% of which was not vaccinated.
Speaking of records, according to data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), it is the country with the highest percentage of new deaths in the European Union: 226 per million inhabitants.
DATA ON VACCINATION IN ROMANIA
These numbers convinced people to get vaccinated, just think that always on October 18 the people who had received a dose were 36,826, those who had completed the cycle 7,863 and those who had been given the booster 24,052, for a total of 68,749 doses. administered in 24 hours.
Since then, the number of vaccinations has increased significantly. On October 26, 150,600 injections were made in a single day, of which 111,033 were first doses.
Thanks to the distrust in state institutions and disinformation campaigns, in Romania only 37% of the population is vaccinated and among the EU countries, only Bulgaria has an even lower vaccination rate. The EU average is 75%.
NEW RESTRICTIONS
To contain the high number of infections and deaths, new restrictions have come into force for 30 days in Romania since last Monday . Night curfew, early closures of shops and restaurants, closed schools (except crèches) for two weeks and compulsory health pass for most public spaces, with the exception of grocery stores and pharmacies.
The protective mask is once again mandatory both indoors and outdoors. Private events such as weddings and baptisms are prohibited, as are concerts and outdoor performances. The government is also urging employers to send half the staff to smartwork. The measures had already been adopted in the main cities but now the interim government has extended them to the whole country.
THE DDL TO MAKE THE GREEN PASS MANDATORY
Meanwhile, despite the disastrous situation in the country, yesterday the Romanian senators rejected the bill which provided for the obligation to present the Green Pass in the workplace. The measure, reports USNews , would affect medical personnel, public sector workers and those of large private companies.
According to the draft of the bill, workers who carry out activities without presenting the Green Pass would be suspended from employment without paying wages for a period of 30 days, following which the contract could be canceled. The tampons, as an alternative to the Green Pass, would be paid by the employees. Failure to comply with the rules would also result in fines for employers.
GREEN PASS? NO THANK YOU
The bill, proposed by centrist lawmakers and designed to increase the spread of the vaccine, did not go by far. In fact, only two votes were needed to obtain the necessary majority. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance for Unity of Romanians (Aur), the ultra-nationalist party promoting the movement against Covid vaccines, voted against in the classroom.
However, the last word has not yet been said. The bill now passes to the lower house of Parliament, which has decision-making power.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/la-romania-inizia-a-vaccinarsi-sul-serio-ma-il-parlamento-boccia-il-green-pass-per-lavorare/ on Fri, 29 Oct 2021 05:49:31 +0000.