The European Commission convened a meeting on Thursday to “discuss (…) possible measures for a coordinated approach” by EU states to the explosion of Covid-19 cases in China.
“In light of the pandemic situation in China”, the European executive will convene a committee this Thursday morning that brings together representatives of the twenty-seven ministries of health, a Commission spokeswoman said.
The aim is “to discuss with EU member states and (health) agencies possible measures for a coordinated European approach,” he said.
After the sudden end this month of the “zero covid” policy in China, which led to a very large wave of infections in the country, several states around the world are concerned about the possibility that new variants of the virus will spread from the Asian country . the virus.
“Ready to study all useful measures”
Italy already decided on Wednesday to impose mandatory tests on all travelers from China. A measure already taken in Japan, and that the United States also adopted on Wednesday.
In the rest of the EU, other countries are waiting: the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, has “requested appropriate measures to protect” the French from the government, which claims to “follow very carefully the evolution of the situation in China”.
Paris says it is “ready to study all useful measures that could be implemented as a result, in conjunction with France’s European partners, and within the legal framework that exists today.”
In early December, on the Commission’s recommendation, the 27 had agreed to remove all EU entry restrictions for third-country travelers and return to the pre-pandemic situation.
Although it reserves, however, “an emergency brake”: the possibility of reintroducing restrictive measures “in a coordinated manner” if the epidemiological situation so requires.
Source: BFM TV
