The European Commission has convened a meeting this Thursday to discuss “possible measures for a coordinated approach” by the Member States of the European Union (EU) in the face of the explosion of Covid-19 cases in China.
“Given the pandemic situation in China”, the European Executive will convene a committee this Thursday morning that will bring together representatives of the Health Ministries of the 27 member states, a door revealed to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday Spokesperson for the European Commission.
The objective is “to discuss with the Member States and the European agencies [de saúde] possible measures for a coordinated European approach”, explained the same source.
Chinese authorities ended most anti-Covid-19 measures without warning on December 7, amid growing public exasperation and a major hit to the economy after three years of restrictions.
Since then, China has seen an explosion in the number of cases among its 1.4 billion people, with hospitals and crematoriums overwhelmed and residents reporting a lack of fever medicine.
Japan and the United States have already taken steps to require mandatory testing for all travelers from China.
Italy is considering making Covid-19 tests mandatory, while the Lombardy region has already introduced this measure.
In Portugal, the Ministry of Health has said today that it will maintain the control measures for Covid-19 currently in force. In a written response to the Lusa agency on the increase in SARS-CoV-2 infections in China, this ministry assured that the Portuguese authorities are monitoring the epidemiological situation “together with European partners and international organizations, that is, in the field of the activity of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control”.
The European Commission must strive to prevent certain EU member states from going it alone, adopting restrictions at their borders without consulting, such as at the start of the pandemic in spring 2020.
In early December, on the Commission’s recommendation, the 27 agreed to remove all EU entry restrictions for travelers from other countries and return to the pre-pandemic situation.
However, an “emergency brake” was safeguarded, with the possibility of reintroducing restrictive measures “in a coordinated manner” if the epidemiological situation so requires.
The World Health Organization (WHO) already expressed, last week, “seriously concerned” about the wave of new cases of covid-19 in China, and asked Beijing for greater transparency to be able to deal with future pandemics.
Covid-19 is an infectious respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, detected at the end of 2019 in China and which has spread rapidly throughout the world.
Source: TSF
