BRUSSELS (AP) – European Union leaders agreed that borders should remain open and considered further measures to contain the spread of coronavirus variants during a video conference on Thursday, when the bloc’s top disease control official said that urgent action was needed to prevent a new wave of hospitalizations and deaths.
Expressing great concern about the virus’s mutations, the 27 leaders looked at other border restrictions, such as limits on all non-essential travel, better mutation tracking and improved block coordination.
Although concerned about the imminence of a new wave of deaths across the EU, they could not immediately agree on whether or not to suspend non-essential travel.
“It is of great importance not to travel, but you cannot apply it legally right away,” said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte after the conference call.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen insisted on the importance of keeping borders open to ensure that goods continue to move smoothly, while introducing measures “that keep us all safe”.
She said the leaders discussed a proposal to introduce new cross-border “dark red zones”, where infection rates are particularly high and where all non-essential travel should be discouraged. Travelers in these areas can be tested before departure and placed in isolation when arriving at another location. Von der Leyen said that the commission will make precise recommendations to member states in the coming days.
About 400,000 EU citizens have died of causes related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, and the head of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Andrea Ammon, said that “an increasing number of infections will lead to an increase in hospitalizations and mortality rates in all age groups, especially for those in older age groups.
In a study published shortly before the summit, ECDC warned of the high dangers of new variants, such as those initiated in Britain, Brazil and South Africa. Ammon said that “member states are also encouraged to speed up vaccination high-risk groups and prepare the health system for high demand ”.
Some EU countries have already tightened restrictions, imposing stricter curfews and stricter mask requirements on public transport and in stores. Among the measures that the ECDC recommends are a ban on non-essential travel and an acceleration of vaccinations.
“Most have said that freedom of movement must survive, but it is vital to ask not to travel,” said Rutte. “It is essential that we discourage travel around Europe as much as possible. Don’t travel, just don’t travel. ”
Following ECDC’s advice, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo proposed a temporary ban on non-essential travel during the school holidays in February.
With the health situation at a critical point, the commission also asked member states before the meeting to speed up the rate of vaccination, to ensure that at least 80% of those over 80 are vaccinated by March, and that 70% of adults the population throughout the block is protected until the end of the summer.
Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, said that there is “global and clear support for this proposal”.
But since the EU does not expect vaccines to be ready for mass distribution before April, leaders must, however, find efficient ways to contain the new variants. The commission believes that better tracking of virus mutations with genomic sequencing, along with greater use of rapid antigen tests, will be crucial.
The EU Commission said that several EU nations are testing less than 1% of the samples. She proposed “urgently” increasing genome sequencing to at least 5% of positive test results and ideally see that number reaching 10% to detect variants. Member states unanimously agreed on Thursday on a common framework for the use of rapid antigen tests and the mutual recognition of PCR test results across the 450 million bloc.
Discussions also focused on stopping vaccine deliveries after Pfizer last week announced a temporary reduction that affected all EU countries. The EU has closed six vaccine contracts for more than 2 billion doses, but only the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have been approved for use so far.
The EU now expects Pfizer to keep the drop in deliveries limited to this week, while resuming full distribution again next week, with the resulting buildup done during February.
The leaders also evaluated a Greek proposal to issue vaccination certificates to facilitate travel. But with doubts about whether vaccinated people could still be contagious, and only a small fraction of the EU population already vaccinated, they agreed that it was too early to decide whether proof of vaccination certificates should be considered travel documents.
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Associated Press writer Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
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