EU countries have agreed on a “coordinated approach” to the surge of coronavirus in China. The vast majority of EU countries are in favor of testing travelers from China for the coronavirus before departure. According to Ria Cats, EU correspondent for FD, the Netherlands is still uncooperative and scientists don’t see much in the measurements either. “According to the Netherlands, this is a drop in the ocean.”
Health officials in EU countries also agreed that wastewater from aircraft should be screened for viral particles and that member states should strengthen internal surveillance. This was reported on Twitter by European Commissioner Stella Kyriakides (Health). There will be another consultation on the measures later today.
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window dressing
According to EU correspondent Ria Cats, it was already known that the EU wants to cooperate more in this area, but “in fact, an agreement has now been reached that they have decided they want to work together”. But it’s about window dressing, because it was already talked about last week».
Furthermore, an “overwhelming majority” accepted the measures, “and therefore no general agreement”. The Netherlands and the experts see little in the measures for now, says Cats. “A law has not yet been passed in the Netherlands requiring travelers to do certain things before entering the country. That law is still under consideration in the Senate, so the Netherlands says it still has no perseverance power.
Zero covid
The crisis meetings have been convened in the wake of China’s decision to dismantle its strict zero-covid policy. This has increased the demand for flights from China to other parts of the world. There are fears in the EU that due to the increase in the number of passengers from China, new variants of the corona will enter Europe that current vaccines cannot tolerate. Additionally, there are concerns about the reliability of the Chinese krone digits.
Mixture of rules
Several EU countries had already tightened the rules for travelers from China on their own initiative. For example, in France PCR tests have become mandatory upon arrival and Belgium and Austria want to examine wastewater from flights from China. Spain has introduced the 3G rule, requiring travelers from China to be vaccinated, tested or treated. From Wednesday, the Netherlands will offer travelers from China the opportunity to carry out a free self-test upon arrival at Schiphol.
According to Cats, it is therefore very important to involve everyone today in a new meeting. ‘Otherwise, just like at the start of the pandemic, we will have a hodgepodge of rules where each country does as it sees fit. But it’s not yet clear whether everyone will be on board.’
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
