The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Coronavirus: Brussels sounds the alert

2020-02-24T11:18:05.860Z


The European Commission invites the Member States to coordinate but not to "panic".


Correspondent in Brussels

While Italy has experienced an explosion in the number of cases recorded since the end of last week, concern about the Coronavirus is growing in Brussels. "Recall that we have more than 2,600 deaths and that the epidemic has already hit 29 countries . " It is with these words that the European Commissioner in charge of crisis management, Janez Lenarcic, started the press conference he held on Monday morning with the Health Commissioner, Stella Kyriakides. Faced with this "global challenge" and while Italy is now the first center of Coronavirus outside Asia, Brussels invited the countries of the EU to join the ranks and to coordinate to "stem the disease" . "These past few days have shown how quickly the situation can change , " admitted the Health Commissioner, urging member states not to "panic" and not to "give in to the sirens of disinformation" .

»LIVE - Coronavirus: contamination is accelerating, markets on alert

For now, the two European commissioners have in turn congratulated the Italian authorities for the speed of their reaction and the transparency they have shown over the past few days. Rome, as of Friday evening, announced the confinement of several cities in northern Italy. And, on Sunday, we learned that the Venice Carnival was to end, which was to last until Tuesday. Italy is the first EU country to announce such measures in Europe. A joint mission from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is due to travel to Italy on Tuesday to assess the situation.

No recommendations on closing borders

Obviously, with the development of the virus on the continent, it is also the question of the free movement of people within the Schengen area which is raised. On the night of Sunday to Monday, Austria suspended rail traffic with Italy for four hours due to doubts about the state of health of two German tourists from Venice. The concern also spreads to France and the cities close to the Italian border. The mayor of Menton, Jean-Claude Guibal, is calling for the establishment of an emergency health plan and the strengthening of health controls at the border. At this stage, the Commission does not intend to make recommendations on the possible closure of the borders, a subject which also falls within the prerogative of the Member States. But neither has it completely ruled out this option if the situation were to change. "Regarding the different scenarios such as a coordinated suspension of Schengen, we are not considering them at the moment, but we are working on various emergency plans , " said Janez Lenarcic. Travel restrictions in the Schengen area must be "proportionate" , "coordinated" between EU states and "based on scientific evidence" , said the Health Commissioner. "For the time being, the World Health Organization (WHO) has not recommended limiting travel or trade," she added.

Read also: Coronavirus: France puts itself in battle order

The European Commission also announced on Monday morning the release of 232 million euros "in order to work towards this international fight against the coronavirus" . Of this amount, 114 million will go to WHO after its international appeal, 100 million will be spent on research and 3 million will be used for the supply of equipment to China and the repatriation of EU citizens. An EU plane had already taken off from Vienna for China on Sunday morning with more than 25 tonnes of personal protective equipment on board.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-02-24

You may like

News/Politics 2024-01-31T13:09:54.650Z
Life/Entertain 2024-02-01T06:40:37.537Z
News/Politics 2024-02-14T11:42:14.803Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z
News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.