The pandemic is wreaking havoc on the European continent. And the fear of a runaway epidemic is growing in the face of the mutant virus originating from United Kingdom, with the risk ofvery high speed propagation putting pressure on the continent's hospital capacity.
Hence the new tightening of the screws by the European Commission. But with a concern to preserve as much as possible economic activity and the possibility of travelling for business. The Commission is therefore looking at additional measures to limit non-essential travel within and to the EU.
Closing borders won't help, common measures will
" There is an urgent need to reduce the risk of travel-related infections. And to do so in a way that eases the burden on already overburdened healthcare systems." said Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice, on Monday 25 January. " Closing borders won't help, common measures will" he added.
The European executive has suggested tighten restrictions in regions where the incidence of cases is very high (more than 500 infections per 100,000 inhabitants), while at the same time strongly discouraging non-essential travel across the EU.
Extra dark red
The Member States are expected to approve this new recommendation in the coming weeks. The measure would redefine infection maps that European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is published every week to coordinate travel restrictions.
From now on regions of the EU will be divided in green, orange, red and in new "dark red" zonesbased on Covid-19 infection rates.
The new dark red category has been introduced to indicate " areas where the virus is circulating at very high levelsin particular because of the more infectious variants of concern" .
People arriving from a dark red zone should undergo a test before arrival. Then get into quarantine.
In the meantime, the Member States have put in place their own strategies for areas currently classified as orange and red. However, travel restrictions will not apply to travellers arriving from green zones.. But there are currently very few of these on the continent.
Some groups, such as cross-border workers and residents or transport staff should be exempt certain restrictions, according to the Commission.
A Commission with no real legal weight on health
Will countries comply with this rule? Visit Commission in this area has in fact no legal prerogative. The proof is in the Belgium has issued a ban on its nationals leaving the country on non-essential travel until 1 March. The ban comes into force on Wednesday 27 January.
For the travellers from non-EU countriesThe Commission is recommending stricter and more uniform measures between Member States. It wants all Member States to require a compulsory screening test (maximum 72 hours) before departure. It can be combined with a requirement for self-isolation, quarantine or additional tests, as required. This measure would now apply to United Kingdom.
For travel from countries where new variants of Covid-19 have been detected, the Commission considers it necessary to screening on arrival too. This measure would be in addition to the precautions already in force. It suggests a mandatory quarantine of 14 days maximum. Finally, travellers should complete a location form in all Member States.
As of 25 January, Portugal, Spain, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden, Slovakia, Estonia, Cyprus, the Netherlands and Malta had recorded rates of more than 500 infections per 100,000 inhabitants over the last two weeks. In total, on 26 January, the European Union recorded 18.72 million covid-positive cases and almost 450,000 deaths.
