EU international locations close to deal on bloc-wide response to China’s COVID surge – POLITICO

EU international locations are inching towards coordinated journey measures in response to China’s COVID surge, together with pre-departure testing, masks on flights and testing wastewater for attainable new variants.

The push for a joint response comes solely after a number of EU international locations had already launched their very own measures to curb COVID charges from China and surveil for brand spanking new variants, regardless of vows to enhance collaboration in the course of the first wave of the pandemic.

At a well being safety assembly Tuesday of nationwide ministers and representatives from the European Fee, the European Centre for Illness Prevention and Management and the World Well being Group, officers moved nearer to a consensus on pre-departure testing for vacationers from China, stepping up wastewater monitoring from flights, and elevated home surveillance of the virus, tweeted EU Well being Commissioner Stella Kyriakides.

The members “converged” on these measures, she stated, including: “Dialogue continues tomorrow in [the integrated political crisis response (IPCR) mechanism meeting].”

A Fee spokesperson informed POLITICO that the Fee introduced a draft opinion on proposed measures to EU capitals, which can now be “revised and adopted” primarily based on their enter.

“The overwhelming majority of nations are in favor of pre-departure testing,” the spokesperson stated, including that such checks “would should be focused on the most acceptable flights and airports and carried out in a coordinated approach to make sure their effectiveness.”

The draft opinion additionally contains sporting masks on flights from China, private hygiene for vacationers and elevated EU vigilance on testing and vaccination. It contains genomic surveillance at airports to detect new variants, akin to testing bathroom water, in addition to elevated monitoring and sequencing. The EU’s disaster response physique will take all these measures into consideration when it meets Wednesday.

Many international locations in Europe launched wastewater sampling in the course of the pandemic to establish outbreaks of COVID, but in addition to genetically sequence samples to observe for brand spanking new variants.

Belgium was the primary nation this week to announce it was testing wastewater samples from two flights per week from China and sequencing for variants.

International locations together with the U.Ok. have stated there’s a lack of complete well being data shared by China, making it troublesome to know whether or not new variants are rising within the nation.

In the meantime, international locations together with Italy, France and Spain launched their very own testing measures for vacationers from China final week, in addition to the U.Ok.