It took a lot of effort, but in the end an agreement was reached on Wednesday evening to tackle the corona outbreak in China in a coordinated manner in the European Union, although the member states still have a lot of room for maneuver.
In the first place, all passengers on flights to and from China will be advised to wear a medical mask or FFP2/N95/KN95 respirator and advice on personal hygiene and health measures will be provided. Furthermore, Member States are “strongly encouraged to introduce the requirement for all passengers departing from China to Member States to have a negative covid-19 test taken no more than 48 hours prior to departure from China”.
Here too, the decision will ultimately lie with the Member States themselves. Belgium will in any case require a negative corona test for passengers on direct flights from China, reports Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit). Initially only for direct flights because the risk of multiplication of infections is greatest there. An upscaling of these measures remains possible, according to Vandenbroucke.
It was also agreed that passengers arriving from China would be randomly tested upon arrival in order to monitor the epidemiological situation. And will there be testing and sequencing of waste water from airports with international flights and planes arriving from China. On Saturday, for the first time, waste water from a flight from China will be collected separately in our country for research into the corona virus, as a pilot project.
The coordinated approach comes after a week in which European member states seemed to be playing panic football in response to the end of the zero-covid policy in China. A painful conclusion for the European Union, which had vowed in the worst period of the pandemic to tackle health threats together from now on. But now it was once again every man for himself, with Member States individually rolling out precautions.
Great distrust
With the new measures, Europe wants to be on the safe side. According to data released by the Chinese health authorities, virus strains are circulating in the country that have already entered Europe. But the distrust is very great. European governments do not believe that China offers full disclosure. They therefore want to be able to check for themselves whether tourists from China are not bringing new covid variants to Europe.
The World Health Organization WHO also criticized China’s statistics on Wednesday. Officially, there are far fewer deaths and serious illnesses than messages on social media, for example, suggest. “We continue to ask China for faster, regular and reliable data on hospitalizations and deaths,” said WHO director Tedros Ghebreyesus.
The European member states will evaluate the situation and review the measures introduced in about two weeks.