Long relegated to the background, the pandemic has brought the European Union’s health policy to the fore. This week alone, a world conference, a European conference, an informal European summit of Heads of State or Government and an informal meeting of European Health Ministers are planned, not forgetting the presentation of new measures against Covid-19 by the European Commission on Thursday 29 October.
The situation continues to worsen
After a summer that was not as bad as expected, Europe is currently facing a second and very rough wave of Covid-19 infections. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control’s (ECDC) thirteenth risk assessment, published last week, points out that transmission levels in 23 member countries and the UK are now “very worrying”. Only Cyprus, Estonia, Finland and Greece are not included in this group (compared to 7 countries only a month ago).
The virus does not spare the political arena: in the last 2 days, the Polish President, Andrzej Duda, and the Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boïko Borissov, have also tested positive for Covid-19.
As a result, most governments are reintroducing restrictive measures, such as curfews in France, Belgium and Slovenia. The rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU has just announced that physical meetings in Brussels will be reduced to the bare essentials. “Only essential meetings necessary for the functioning of the EU or the coordination of the response to the Covid-19 crisis will continue to take place in person”, explained a spokesman for the German Presidency.
For the ECDC risk assessment: https://bit.ly/2Hz0Z9R
Coordination put to the test
In this context, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides, both praised the benefits of cooperation and solidarity.
“More than at any time in human history, the health of one country directly affects the health of another. Cross-border viruses need cross-border responses”, Ms von der Leyen told a global health conference on Sunday 25 October. On the occasion of this ‘World Health Summit’ organised from 25 to 27 October under the patronage of the European Commission, the World Health Organization and the Franco-German partnership, she identified cross-border coordination, provision of equipment and support for people and the economy as key areas of cooperation.
On Monday 26 October, it was the Health Commissioner’s turn to drive home the point at a conference at European level. “The pandemic is an electric shock to everyone. Covid-19 has magnified the weaknesses in our healthcare systems. The biggest challenges, be it Covid, antimicrobial resistance or climate change, are common to all”, said Ms Kyriakides, before listing the forthcoming European initiatives (see EUROPE 12584/19).
The conference, organised by the ‘European Health Coalition’ (which brings together different health actors), focused on 10 key recommendations.
Link to recommendations: https://bit.ly/3kugcri
Next step: a common vision on screening and quarantine periods
The Commissioner, however, stalled an initiative that is expected to feed into the video conference of EU leaders on 29 October (see EUROPE 12586/1, 12583/1) and the informal meeting of EU health ministers the following day. Last week, the institution’s spokesman, Eric Mamer, confirmed the information that the Commission was preparing recommendations on testing and quarantine periods. This step is in line with the criteria and colour code to identify risk areas (see EUROPE 12580/6).
The minutes of the Health Security Committee (HSC) meeting of 19 October, which have just been made public, testify to the need for coordination.
– Screening: the HSC discussion focused on antigen detection tests that can detect the virus antigen (the foreign substance in the virus capable of triggering an immune response) within 15 minutes.
The report announces the launch of a common public procurement for these rapid tests used by 6 Member States and envisaged by 10 others, as well as the imminent publication of a common approach that will complement the general recommendation on screening (see EUROPE 12563/7).
“It is up to Member States to decide how to use these tests and in what context, but a common HSC position should cover the parameters and scenarios in which the use of these tests is relevant”, the document indicates. The approach could cover the following elements: parameters and scenarios where it makes sense to use these tests (criteria/threshold values for sensitivity and specificities); performance; arrangements and situations where antigenic tests cannot be used; situations where antigenic tests can replace PCR tests; validation of tests; use of results for national statistics; mutual recognition of results for cross-border travellers.
– Quarantine: at this stage, situations differ widely from one State to another on the periods of isolation (for patients) and quarantine (for contacts). “The Commission notes that it is not necessary to adopt the same measures, but at least a similar justification for the implementation of these measures”, notes the document, which announces that the ECDC is preparing a notice to reduce the quarantine period after a negative Covid test.
The EU agency has consistently advocated in recent weeks for a 14-day quarantine period that can be reduced to 10 days if a test on day 10 is negative. However, for the moment, the quarantine period is set at 7 days in 5 countries, 10 days in 11 countries and 14 days in 14 countries, according to the report.
This is a highly sensitive subject, as this comment from one Member State shows: “Austria notes the economic pressure to reduce quarantine to the shortest possible duration, but this is becoming more difficult to justify with basic medical evidence”.
HSC report: https://bit.ly/31MbwG6 (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)