BRUSSELS (AP) – European Union leaders have agreed that borders should remain open and have called for more measures to combat the spread of coronavirus variants during a video conference on Thursday, as the disease’s top official said the disease was urgent. action is needed to ward off a new wave of hospitalizations. and deaths.
The 27 leaders expressed great concern about the virus mutations and looked at further border restrictions such as limits on all non-essential journeys, better tracking of mutations and improving the coordination of locks.
Although they were concerned that an increase in deaths across the EU was imminent, they could not immediately agree on whether or not unnecessary travel should be stopped.
“It is very important not to travel, but you cannot immediately apply it legally,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said after the conference.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, insisted that it was important to keep borders open to ensure goods moved smoothly, while measures were put in place “to keep us all safe.”
She said leaders had discussed a proposal to introduce new “dark red zones” across the border, where infection rates are particularly high and where all non-essential journeys should be discouraged. Travelers from these areas can be expected to undergo tests before leaving and being placed in isolation upon arrival at another location. Von der Leyen said the commission would make precise recommendations to member states in the coming days.
Some 400,000 EU citizens have died from COVID-19-related causes 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 higher hospitalization and mortality rates in all age groups, especially for those in older age groups. ”
In a study published just before the summit, the ECDC warned of the major dangers of the new variants, such as those starting in Britain, Brazil and South Africa. Ammon said that “member states are also encouraged to speed up the vaccination of high-risk groups, and to prepare the health care system for high demand.”
Some EU countries have already stepped up restrictions by imposing stricter curfew rules and stricter mask requirements on public transport and in shops. Among the measures recommended by the ECDC is a ban on non-essential travel and the acceleration of vaccinations.
“Most said free movement must survive, but that it is important to ask not to travel,” Rutte said. ‘It is vital that we discourage travel in Europe as much as possible. Do not travel, simply do not travel. ”
In line with ECDC 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 urged member states before the meeting to increase the rate of vaccination, to ensure that at least 80% of those over 80 are vaccinated by March and that 70% of adults have the population across the block is protected by the end of summer.
Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said there was “worldwide and clear support for this proposal.”
But because the EU does not expect vaccines to be ready for mass distribution before April, leaders must meanwhile find effective ways to contain the new variants. The commission believes it will be important to track the mutations of the virus in genomic order, along with increased use of rapid antigen testing.
The EU Commission said several EU countries test less than 1% of the samples. It is proposed to increase genome order ‘urgently’ to at least 5% of the positive test results and it would be ideal for the figure to reach 10% to detect the variants. Member states on Thursday unanimously agreed on a common framework for the use of rapid antigen tests and the mutual recognition of PCR test results in the 450 million population block.
Discussions have also focused on interrupting vaccine delivery after Pfizer announced a temporary reduction last week that affected all EU countries. The EU has concluded six vaccine contracts for more than 2 billion doses, but only the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have so far been approved for use.
The EU now expects Pfizer to limit the decline in deliveries to this week, while resuming full distribution again next week, with the consequent backlog made up during February.
Leaders are also considering a Greek proposal to issue vaccination certificates to make the journey easier. But with doubts about whether the people vaccinated can still be contagious, and only a small fraction of the EU population already vaccinated, they agree that it is too early to decide whether the vaccination certificate as travel documents should be considered.
___
Associated Press author Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
___
Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at:
https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemie
https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus- vaccination
https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak