Concerned about a new wave of hospitalizations and deaths in the coming months, European Union leaders evaluated further measures to curb the spread of coronavirus variants during a video conference on Thursday.
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, looking forward to another wave of deaths across the EU. .
About 400,000 EU citizens have died from causes related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
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In a study published shortly before the summit, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control warned of the high dangers of new variants, such as those initiated in Britain, Brazil and South Africa, and Andrea Ammon, head of ECDC, said that “member states are also encouraged to accelerate the vaccination of high-risk groups and to 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.
The EU Executive Committee believes that the health situation is at a critical point and has urged member states to accelerate the rate of vaccination, to ensure that at least 80% of those over 80 are vaccinated by March, and that 70% of the adult population throughout the block is protected until the end of the summer.
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. He proposed to “urgently” increase genome sequencing to at least 5% of positive test results and, ideally, see that number reach 10% to detect variants.
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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 population, in an attempt to facilitate cross-border movement, virus tracking and treatment.
“This is a central tool to help mitigate the spread of the virus and contribute to the smooth functioning of the internal market,” said the EU Council in a statement.