Romanian Corona agri news - update week 20
Romania lifts the ‘emergency state’ and enters the ‘state of alert’! Slight relaxation measures.
After 2-months of “state of emergency”, Romania enters now into a 1-month “state of alert”. Flights to/from the Netherlands are still suspended (with the exception of cargo and seasonal workers). New: occasional road passenger transport for workers travelling to red areas is allowed (if approved also by transit countries). All persons entering Romania must enter quarantine/isolation at home for 14 days (institutionalised quarantine is no longer compulsory). Restaurants and shopping malls remain closed. No groups larger than 3.
As of May 15, 2020, Romania is switching to the so-called state of alert for 1 month and takes some (light) relaxation measures – to be reassessed every two weeks. Here are the main ones.
Obligation to wear masks in commercial areas, public transport means, at work and in other enclosed spaces.
Public institutions and authorities, as well as companies must organise their activity in such a way to allow work from home. If this is not possible, then they have to take the following measures: check the temperature of their own staff and of the visitors (max. 37.3˚C), hands disinfection of before entering work spaces; shifting/spreading the work schedule (in case of more than 50 employees)
It is forbidden to organize gatherings in open spaces.
The activity of serving food and beverages in the common dining areas inside restaurants, hotels, motels, boarding houses, cafes or other public places, as well as on the terraces outside these locations, continues to be suspended. Food preparation and sales through drive-ins, room-service, delivery to the customer, "take-away" etc. is allowed.
The activity of shopping malls bigger than 15,000 square meters remains suspended, with the exception of: the sale of food, veterinary, pharmaceutical products, medical optics products and services and cleaning services; the sale of electronic and household appliances (only by home delivery); shops which have direct access from outside the malls.
The entry into Romania of foreign citizens (non-EU,-EEA) is forbidden with a few exceptions.
Flights are still suspended for a period of 14 days, starting with 15.05.2020, to/from: Austria, Belgium, the Swiss Confederation, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Spain and the United States of America, Turkey and Iran. There are some exceptions: cargo, irregular flights (charter) for 1) the transport of seasonal workers or for the repatriation of foreign nationals, from Romania to other states, with the approval of the Romanian Civil Aviation Authority and the competent authority of the destination country; 2) repatriation of Romanian citizens (with prior approval by the Romanian Civil Aviation Authority, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs); 3) for workers in the transport sector.
International road transport of persons by regular services or occasional services are suspended until 1 June 2020 for the following destinations: Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Swiss Confederation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Turkey and from these countries to Romania. Exceptions: international road transport of persons by occasional services, if the following cumulative conditions are met:
a) the only persons who are transported are those who: have a valid employment contract in the country of destination, have a valid right of residence in the country of destination or return to Romania from the country in which they worked or lived;
b) they have the agreement/approval of the transit states and of the destination state ;
c) the road transport operator informs the Romanian Road Authority - ARR of the Ministry of Transport at least 24 hours before departure
d) the road transport operator carrying out the transport, together with the recruitment agency and the persons to be transported shall take all necessary measures to comply with the rules and recommendations of the responsible authorities regarding the avoidance of overcrowding, protection and safety measures for passengers and drivers.
As of 15.05.2020, all persons entering Romania must go into quarantine/isolation at home together with the family/relatives with whom they live together, while those who do not have such possibility or who do not want to put at risk their families, the institutionalized quarantine measure may be chosen (quarantine in specially designated spaces provided by the authorities). There are some exceptions such as: drivers of freight vehicles with a maximum authorized capacity of more than 2.4 tonnes, aircraft pilots and navigating personnel, railway staff, cross-border workers. Exceptions apply also to:
- employees of Romanian companies who perform works, according to concluded contracts, outside Romania and then return to the country, if they do not show COVID-19 symptoms
- the representatives of foreign companies that have subsidiaries/branches/representations in Romania, if they do not show symptoms and prove the contractual relations with the economic entities in Romania [this exception must be further clarified by the Romanian authorities]
- the persons entering Romania for the performance of activities involving the use, installation, commissioning, maintenance, service of medical equipment, as well as of equipment in the scientific, economic, defence, public order and national security fields, if they do not show symptoms and prove the contractual relations with the beneficiary/beneficiaries in Romania
- diplomatic corps, not showing COVID-19 symptoms.
Persons who do not comply with the home quarantine/isolation measures will be placed in institutionalized quarantine for a period of 14 days and obliged to bear the costs.
Some borders crossing points remain totally or partially closed: 5 crossing points at the Hungarian border, 6 crossing points at the border with Bulgaria, 2 crossing points at the border with Ukraine, 2 crossing points at the border with Moldova, 10 crossing points at the border with Serbia. Border traffic situation can be checked: www.politiadefrontiera.ro/en/traficonline/
Also as of 15.05.2020, the movement of persons within hometowns is allowed, if they observe the measures to prevent the spread of infection and avoid the formation of pedestrian groups larger than 3 persons (not belonging to the same family).
Movement outside hometowns is allowed only for specifically listed reasons and people travelling must carry written declarations. Some exceptions: travelling for professional reasons, travel for agricultural activities, travel for the marketing of agri-food products (agricultural producers), for medical reasons, for individual recreational-sports activities carried out outdoors, etc.
The measure of suspending courses until the end of the school/university year is maintained.
