The EU’s Health Security Committee (HSC) agreed on Tuesday to promote a coordinated approach to the rise in coronavirus cases in China.
In its conclusions, it says that all member states agreed on a coordinated approach to the changing COVID-19 situation in China and the implications of increased travel from China to Europe at the meeting of the Health Security Committee and that the overwhelming majority of countries are in favour of pre-departure testing.
It is added that the Commission prepared a draft HSC opinion to steer Tuesday’s discussion, and this will now be revised and adopted based on the input of Member States in the meeting. A further discussion will take place in the IPCR on Wednesday, taking into account the input of the HSC.
The draft HSC opinion proposes measures on: personal hygiene and health measures for travellers (including recommended mask wearing on flights from China), wastewater monitoring for aircrafts, genomic surveillance at airports and increased monitoring and sequencing, increased EU vigilance on testing and vaccination, a discussion on the need for pre-testing of passengers from China prior to departure.
“These measures would need to be targeted at the most appropriate flights and airports and carried out in a coordinated way to ensure their effectiveness. The Commission will publish the Opinion once it is approved” it concludes.
Meanwhile, EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in a tweet that “today Health Security Committee converged on action including: Pre-departure testing for travelers from China, stepped up wastewater monitoring, increased domestic surveillance”.
She added that discussion continues on Wednesday in the IPCR and that “unity remains our strongest tool against COVID”.
Source: Cyprus News Agency