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Volume XIX |

Containment and mitigation strategies during the first wave of Covid-19 pandemic. A territorial approach in CCE countries

Abstract: The paper analysis the situation in CEE countries in terms of containment and mitigation strategies for the pandemic, but with a focus on the health systems and vulnerability factors (low scores for global health security index, understaffed health systems, higher shares of vulnerable people – obese persons, diabetic or those living in poor quality housing). As the new SARS-COV-2 spread throughout the world, Central and Eastern European governments rushed to preventive actions to reduce its spread, all the more considering that the first cases were imported from abroad (mainly from Italy). Public health measures carried out during the spring outbreak were effective, mainly due to the significant reduction in the contact rates and social distancing, which was partly voluntary, partly enforced. Thus, in early March, in person classes were suspended, persons returning from the areas with community spread of the virus were forced into quarantine, along with workplace closures, travel restrictions and shielding measures for individuals. In CEE countries, the lockdown, when enforced, preceded the curve of infections. There was little variation in the design and implementation of mitigation strategies, which were deployed very quickly, hence a much lower infection rate that did not pose additional strain on the health system.

Volume XIX |

In Memoriam Professor Vasile Pleniceanu – life and activity

Abstract:
Volume XVII |

Post-communist Romanian migration patterns: dynamics and territorial perspectives

Abstract: The paper addresses a problem of great importance for Romania, that of the international migration that is in a continuous process of exacerbation after the collapse of the communist regime, but with important spatial differences. The analysis of the situation has led to the need for a series of spatial representations to highlight the typology and structure of migratory flows across the country in the post-communist period, as well as changes in direction or intensity. In almost three decades, more than 550,000 people emigrated from Romania, while almost 240,000 were temporarily abroad in 2017, according to official statistics, but in fact, their number is much higher. The international migration of Romanians has particular characteristics, with four distinct periods, characterized by demographic characteristics and specific territorial distribution. Overall, a mutation of emigrant areas from the west and centre of the country is noticeable after the fall of communism to the eastern and southern regions in recent years, with predominant involvement of young adults.

Volume XIII |

Present and perspectives for health tourism – spa services in Romania

Abstract: The current paper aims at assessing the extent to which spa tourism developed in Romania after the fall of the communism, and to investigate the typology of Romanian spas in order to identify the drawbacks and opportunities of this sector from the supply perspective. The wellness offer (day spas, destination spas, medical spas, mineral spring spas and hotel spas) and the territorial distribution of spa centres within the country are analysed. The current trend is to diversify the offer, with numerous projects for day spas and destination spas within towns, and even resorts offering accommodation, sport and entertainment facilities, as well as spa facilities and programmes. Most of the spas in Romania are focusing only on wellness, less than 10% of them offering advice regarding nutrition, and only few meditation. The balneary spas, capitalizing the mineral and thermal spings, have failed to meet the demands and standards of the international market, thus loosing the fame they enjoyed before 1990.

Volume XIII |

The pattern of demografic changes in Craiova and its peripheries – causal or catalytic agent in the urban growth?

Abstract: The paper analyses the demographic structure of Craiova and its neighbouring area, taking into consideration the suburbanization process and the strong demographic decline that followed after 1990. The demographic potential is the inner driving force of the urban and represents a decisive factor for the territorial changes that the contemporary post-communist town is facing in the context of an ever-increasing mobility and transformations of the core-periphery relationships.