Drop in crime rate at Christmas time
Crime rates across Romania came down significantly during Christmas days (December 25 -27), some 50 percent lower than last year, according to a statement of Interior Ministry spokeswoman Monica Dajbog on Monday. Romanian police raided some 8,200 locations, including traditional restaurants, and fast-food pubs, and terraces issuing 4,000 lockdown-related fines with some 3,000 people not wearing protective masks. Police on Sunday seized 247 driving licences and 57 registration certificates.The police have a legal duty to make sure the coronavirus-related rules are enforced. Romania started its vaccination campaign on Sunday with Mihaela Anghel, a nurse at a hospital in the capital Bucharest. In its first phase, the vaccination campaign focused on health workers in the front line of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bucharest mayor expected to dismantle city hall agencies
Over 20 city hall agencies established by former Bucharest mayor Gabriela Firea are to be dismantled, according to a statement of Nicușor Dan, current mayor of the Romanian capital, on his Facebook account on Monday. “These agencies led to an incredible waste of public money”, Mr. Dan wrote. According to the mayor, the General Council of the Bucharest City Hall appointed a commission expected to decide on the fate of such offices. Nicușor Dan, an independent politician supported by two center-right-wing parties, won the local elections last September replacing Gabriela Firea, the former mayor backed by the center-left-wing Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Romania coronavirus updates
Romania reported 2,620 new coronavirus cases on Monday with 104 deaths (65 men, 39 women) and 1,197 people under intensive care. In the capital Bucharest, the number of new Covid-19 cases hit 958, according to data issued by the country’s Strategic Communication Group (GCS). The Romanian capital is followed by the south-eastern Black Sea port of Constantza with 166 new cases, the central-north county of Cluj and western county of Timiș with 97 cases each. No new cases were reported in the counties of Covasna (central Romania), Satu Mare and Sălaj (north-western Romania).
Alexandru Danga
