EU moving out of Covid-19 pandemic ‘emergency mode’
- The focus will no longer be on mass reporting of all coronavirus cases, but rather on obtaining reliable and representative estimates
- Nations, however, must strengthen their pandemic preparedness and healthcare systems ahead of a possible fresh wave in the fall, officials say
EU officials said on Wednesday the 27-nation bloc needed to keep focused on vaccination, testing and surveillance as it transitions out of the “acute” phase of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are entering a new phase of the pandemic, as we move from emergency mode to a more sustainable management of Covid-19. Yet, we must remain vigilant,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.
“We know the way forward. We need to further step-up vaccination and boosting, and targeted testing – and we need to continue to coordinate our responses closely in the EU.”
Brussels said the bloc’s nations should use current low levels of infections “to strengthen their surveillance, healthcare systems, and overall pandemic preparedness” ahead of a possible fresh wave in the autumn.
The recommendations called for stepping up booster jabs and continuing to sequence sufficient samples to detect any new variants.
It said surveillance no longer needed to focus on mass reporting of all Covid-19 cases “but rather on obtaining reliable and representative estimates”.