13 serum and a major risk of death cases, for adults and children in the areas affected by the presence of vipers, the summer season being in full swing, was issued Recommendation no. 66/2019, to the Ministry of Health, in which it was requested to take several measures to prevent the occurrence of serious cases that can lead to deaths. The recommendation was partially accepted, which is why the People's Advocate Institution continues to monitor the situation and will check to what extent the authorities have complied with the recommendations addressed. The People's Advocate Institution proceeded ex-officio after the media reported numerous cases of persons who either threw themselves in front of the subway or were pushed on the subway tracks. To remedy the situation, a number of 15,000 people have signed a petition calling for the installation of safety panels in the subway stations to secure the platforms. On the other hand, irregularities were also reported regarding the safety of passengers using the subway. Following the request for information and the investigations carried out, the People's Advocate issued Recommendation no. 67/2019, by which it established the necessity that, in the context of the dangers to which passengers are exposed, the Ministry of Transport in collaboration with S.C. METROREX SA, should prepare a project for the installation of the safety panels in the subway stations for the security of the platforms and for carrying out all the technical works necessary to ensure the safety of the passengers, as well as to carry out all the necessary legal steps to start the procedure for requesting and accessing European funds for the purpose of investment specified. The recommendation was partially accepted by the Ministry of Transport, which communicated its point of view, that it is necessary to install these panels in the most crowded stations and lines, specifically for the M2 subway line. Thus, the installation of the panels was analyzed during the preparation phase of the subway station rehabilitation project for the M2 line, and JASPERS considered that it would be beneficial to integrate such a project in the general project for the rehabilitation of the M2 subway line stations. The People's Advocate Institution proceeded ex officio regarding the content of some news broadcasted in the media at the end of January 2019, according to which the Ministry of Health recommended to the people of Bucharest “not to use the water from the public network for drinking, preparing food or personal hygiene before the publication of the final results from the samples taken”. Following the actions taken by the People's Advocate Institution, the competent authorities in the field of drinking water quality, communicated that the results of the analyzes carried out following the incident indicated that the values of the residual free chlorine and the total chlorine were not within the limits established by the legislation in force. In view of the results of the laboratory investigations that found nonconformities, the Public Health Control Service within the DSP Bucharest sanctioned S.C. Apa Nova București S.A. with a maximum fine in the amount of 10,000 lei, for the violation of the provisions of Art. 7 lit. g) of the Government Decision no. 857/2011 on establishing and sanctioning contraventions to the norms in the field of public health. Environment The People's Advocate Institution became aware of the report of the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) "Behind the Scenes: How wood depots hide the destruction of Europe's secular forests" of July 17, 2018, and also found out from other media sources that "the forests in Romania had to suffer over a decade of maladministration, to supply the external demand for cheap wood." According to the scientific studies, in 2005, Romania owned two thirds of the virgin forests still existing in Europe, totaling about 300,000 hectares. The researchers estimated for 2018 a total of about 100,000 hectares, with 200.00 hectares PEOPLE’S ADVOCATE ANNUAL REPORT 2019