POOL New / Reuters
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The grip of the covid shows no signs of decreasing in Europe: today Italy exceeds 15 thousand infections in one day. Over 27 thousand infections in Great Britain, total closures in Wales, Madrid goes towards a curfew, a state of emergency extended until February in France. Germany is less affected, but Health Minister Jens Spahn is positive: yet the government does not go into quarantine after a meeting with him today, Angela Merkel also present. And it does discuss the choice of Ursula von der Leyen to return to Germany, after announcing self-isolation last Thursday in Brussels.
The 27 EU leaders, Huffpost learns from more than one diplomatic source in Brussels, will meet again on October 29th by videoconference to update themselves on the epidemiological situation and try to think about a common method to regulate tests, quarantines, various measures to contain this second wave of the virus that sows fear, death and even controversy in various member countries.
It is a sign that any government is proceeding by trial and error, in an effort to fight covid. On a proposal from the German presidency, European leaders gathered in Brussels last week agreed to hold a weekly meeting a week to update themselves on the epidemiological situation. The first, in fact, will be held next week, after each country has decided on its own in recent months. Especially after the summer, a period of truce in infections, many States have for example decided to shorten the quarantine period for those who have been in contact with infected people: it was 14 days for the whole Union until September, several countries l ‘they cut.
Speaking in the European Parliament today, Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic calls for common measures for the whole EU. “The adoption of the color code on Covid risk areas means that the 27 countries now speak the same language – these are his words to the plenary of the Eurochamber, met mainly remotely – It is essential that this decision is fully implemented, but it is equally essential to agree on common rules on testing and quarantine. From Spain to Sweden we all face the same virus and therefore we should take the same precautions ”.
In Belgium, for example, the quarantine lasts from 7 to a maximum of 10 days, depending on the results of the swabs. Yet the situation is serious. The organizational machine for swabbing has already gone haywire.
Since yesterday evening, in the country of the major European institutions, tests are no longer guaranteed for asymptomatic people who have come into contact with infected people. Only those who have symptoms will be able to swab in a Belgium literally bent by the pandemic and controversy. Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke is now angry with the infectious disease specialist Jean-Luc Gala who today said: “The situation is not as bad as it seems”. The minister replied immediately: “What would you say if we were to announce that half of the hospitals will close next week? What would you say if, in mid-November, we had no more beds available in the ICU? ”.
Today Belgium has also updated the map of European countries in light of the new covid alert: France is a whole red zone, with over 20 thousand infections a day and a state of emergency that will last until February 16 (decision taken by the government today ). Seen from Belgium, Italy is also red but not all of it: the south is orange. For the Belgian map, only the Spanish island of Palma is green zone, ‘covid-free’.
Germany seems to be in a better situation than the rest of Europe: about 7 thousand infections a day. And that is why the German government has taken a decision against the trend: no quarantine for the executive even if one of its members is positive and the other ministers have met him, as happened today with Spahn.
And in Germany is also Ursula von der Leyen after declaring self-isolation in the middle of the European Council last week: she did not stay in her apartment on the 13th floor of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Berlaymont Building. She is sheltered in her country, confirms her spokesperson, an embarrassed Eric Mamer, after a long barrage of questions at the press conference. A case that is debated in Brussels, also because there is a precedent: the former Irish European Commissioner Phil Hogan was forced to resign this summer for having violated the quarantine rules in his country. Von der Leyen’s swab, who abandoned the European Council’s work because a member of his staff was found to be infected, is still negative.
Governments “must do everything possible to contain the pandemic and its economic damage,” writes the International Monetary Fund in its latest report on Europe, praising the anti-crisis measures adopted by the EU. But, he warns, EU governments “must not take away aid prematurely, to avoid repeating the mistakes of the global financial crisis”. Because “the re-emergence of infections in Europe probably represents the greatest risk at the moment”. The IMF expects GDP to decline by 7 percent in Europe in 2020 – the worst since World War II.
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