UN Moldova COVID-19 Situation Report nr33

Overview of Key Decisions & Announcements

● According to data reported to the WHO, it took only three days for the total of global cases to increase from 28 million to 29 million. The WHO Regional Office for Europe warned of a very serious resurgence of cases in Europe, highlighting that weekly cases now exceed those reported when the pandemic first peaked in Europe in March. Over the past two weeks, the number of cases increased by more than 10% in over half of the countries in Europe. In Moldova, the number of cases increased by approximately 17% during this period;

● An anti COVID-19 stigma campaign has been launched by OHCHR, the WHO, the Ministry of Health Labor and Social Protection, and the European Union. The campaign can be followed on all partners social media sites: European Union, WHO Moldova, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Moldova and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection. We would encourage the amplification of this campaign across all partners social media accounts;

● According to an information note from the Ministry of Education, as of September 15th there were 187 cases of COVID-19 infections among students/pupils and 4958 were placed in self-isolation. The note also shows there are 173 infections among teaching staff, with 288 people being placed in self-isolation. Also, 40 school non-teaching staff are reported being positively tested, with another 118 being placed in self-isolation. From a total of 1240 general education public and private institutions, 10 are organizing the education process on-line only due to quarantine measures;

● The Minister of Economy and Infrastructure, Sergiu Railean held a video conference with the President of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council, Salvatore Sciacchitano on September 8th. The parties discussed the impact of COVID-19 on civil aviation, the measures taken by the government to support this sector, as well as the support that the ICAO, which is a UN specialized agency, can provide in harmonizing policies;

● UNDP published a press-release about a grants competition for partnerships across Nistru river to implement innovative business ideas that would approach at least one of the challenges exacerbated by the pandemic, such as limited access to raw materials, undermined distribution networks, absence of a competitive market for logistics operators, etc;

● The Deputy premier for reintegration Cristina Lesnic met with WHO Moldova Representative, Igor Pokanevich, to discuss access to medical services and COVID-19 developments. WHO and UNICEF visited the Transnistria Region on May 6th and provided a number of recommendations related to COVID-19 response. As of today, 2863 people infected with COVID-19 were registered in Transnistria (7% of the total cases in the country).