By The Associated Press
BUCHAREST — Marchers have taken to the streets of the Romanian capital of Bucharest to protest restrictive measures to fight the spread of COVID-19 even as new daily infections and deaths rise in the European Union nation.
About 1,000 people converged Saturday on Victory Square and University Square, expressing frustration with an earlier curfew and shop closures that took effect at the end of March. Many demonstrators waved tri-color Romanian flags and chanted “Freedom!” and “Down with the government!”
“We came to fight against this state of alert that buries all our rights and freedoms,” Dumitru Balan, leader of the civic movement Action for the Nation, told The Associated Press.
The protest was held on the same day that Romania passed 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases. Hospital intensive care units are struggling to cope with the record demand of just under 1,500 COVID-19 patients; 12,000 others are in other wards.
“There are now very severe patients admitted in our clinical ward that normally would require intensive care … we don’t have enough ICU beds available and patients are waiting with sub-optimal care,” Dragos Zaharia, a pneumologist at Marius Nasta Institute, told the AP. “We are at risk of being accused of malpractice.”
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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— More Black Americans say they are open to taking vaccine
— Delayed vaccine shipments could stall progress against COVID-19 in some of world’s poorest countries
— Supreme Court tells California it can’t enforce coronavirus-related restrictions that have limited home-based religious worship
— Iran enforces 10-day lockdown amid fourth wave of pandemic
— Lawmakers seek long-term limit on governors’ emergency power
— Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
NEW YORK — State lawmakers across the U.S. are taking actions to limit the emergency powers of governors — not just in the current coronavirus pandemic, but for any future emergencies.
The pushback is coming primarily from Republican lawmakers but is not entirely partisan. GOP lawmakers are targeting both Democratic and Republican governors.
When the pandemic hit a year ago, many governors and their top health officials temporarily ordered residents to remain home, limited public gatherings, prohibited in-person schooling and shut down dine-in restaurants, gyms and other businesses. Many governors have been repealing or relaxing restrictions after cases declined from a winter peak and as more people get vaccinated.
The potential remains in many states for governors to again tighten restrictions if new variants of the coronavirus lead to another surge in cases.
The U.S. has recorded 31 million coronavirus cases and more than 561,000 confirmed deaths, the most in the world.
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WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez has vetoed a a resolution to reopen tribal roads on the Navajo reservation to tourists and other visitors amid the pandemic.
Nez says he vetoed the resolution approved March 31 by the Navajo Nation Council because COVID-19 variants are spreading in the region and more people need to be vaccinated “to move closer to herd immunity and this will take time.”
“I understand that people want to travel and visit our sites here on the Navajo …read more
Source:: Los Angeles Daily News
