Filenews 24 September 2020
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has published its updated risk assessment on the COVID-19 pandemic, together with a set of guidelines for non-pharmaceutical interventions presented to the press in Brussels by Commissioner Stella Kyriakidou and ECDC Director Dr Andrea Amon, addressing authorities and citizens with a stern warning against complacency.
The risk assessment shows that incident notification rates have been steadily increasing across the EU and the UK since August and that the measures taken have not always been sufficient to reduce or control exposure.
It is therefore vital that Member States implement all necessary measures immediately at the first sign of new outbreaks. This includes strengthening tests and identifying contacts, improving public health care monitoring, ensuring better access to personal protective equipment and medicines and ensuring adequate health capacity.
The ECDC warns today that non-pharmaceutical interventions such as physical distance, hygiene and the use of face masks have been shown not to be sufficient on their own to reduce or control exposure.
In some countries, the increase mainly affects young people (aged 15 to 49 years) resulting in mainly mild and asymptomatic cases, in other countries the increase leads to more deaths among the elderly.
The current epidemiological situation poses an increasing risk to risk groups and health workers and calls for immediate targeted action on public health.
The ECDC identifies in its risk assessment a number of response options, such as strengthening healthcare capacities and targeting public health actions to medically vulnerable individuals and health workers.
It calls for non-pharmaceutical interventions, testing strategies, contact detection, quarantine measures, adequate risk communication and mental health protection measures.
COVID-19 case notification rates have risen steadily across the EU/EEA and the UK since August 2020, but this does not have the same impact in all countries.
Detailed according to ECDC:
- In several countries, the observed increase is associated with an increased test rate and strong transmission between 15 and 49 years of age. In such countries most detections involve mild or asymptomatic cases.
- In some other countries, the outbreak coincides with high or increasing alert rates among elderly people, and consequently an increased proportion of hospital and serious cases.
- The observed increased levels of transmission indicate that non-pharmaceutical interventions have not achieved the desired result, either because compliance with the measures is not optimal or because the measures are not sufficient to reduce or control exposure.
- In addition, the vulnerability of the population to infections remains high as available data from sero-prevalence studies suggest that the level of ist in the population is less than 15% in most areas within the EU/EEA and the UK.
- The current epidemiological situation in many countries is worrying as it poses an increased risk of infection for vulnerable people (people with risk factors for serious COVID-19 disease, such as the elderly) and health workers, particularly in primary care, and calls for immediate targeted action on public health.
On the basis of the above, Commissioner Stella Kyriakidou sounded the alarm by making it clear that now is not the time for relaxation and complacency.
"The intrusive but necessary restrictions imposed by most Member States during spring have managed to slow the spread of the virus and allowed us to start slowly and gradually return to what will for a while remain our new normal," he stressed.
"However, the much anticipated and necessary lifting of some of the restrictions at the beginning of the summer led to what we have constantly warned - an increase in cases," he explained.
"In some Member States the situation is even worse than during the peak period of March. This is a real cause for concern. This means, to be very clear, is that the control measures taken were simply not effective enough, or had not been enforced or followed as they should have been. This is clearly underlined in the updated risk assessment published today by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control," the Commissioner clarified.
"While people who are positive for COVID-19 are now younger in many Member States and mortality rates remain lower than before, we are beginning to see an increase in the occupancy rates of intensive care units."
"In addition, autumn and winter are the time of year for more respiratory diseases, including seasonal flu. To avoid a deadly COVID-19 twin and flu - which could burden our health systems and lead to more loss of life - we need to increase flu vaccination coverage rates," he pointed out.
"I see the absolute need to send a strong and clear message to member states that our recommendations on short-term preparedness from July are now more timely than ever," stressed St. Kyriakidou. "We are at a decisive moment. Today we are here to call on everyone to act decisively. This may be our last chance to prevent a repeat of last spring," he warned.
'I can't stress it strongly enough - we're all responsible for each other. We must all, regardless of age or vulnerability, continue to maintain physical distances, wear face masks, take care of hand hygiene, try to meet in person only in a "social bubble" of relatives and friends and stay home when we feel sick," he stressed.
The Commission has asked the Member States to be ready to implement measures immediately and at the appropriate time, at the first sign of possible new outbreaks.
As he said "we have delivered the first batches of the only authorised COVID treatment - Remdesivir - purchased by the EU emergency instrument. We are negotiating with pharmaceutical companies for COVID-19 vaccines and have entered into two contracts so far to ensure access to such vaccines when they prove safe and effective. Finally, we are working with the Member States on a coordinated approach to restrictions on free movement to ensure greater clarity and predictability for citizens. This issue was discussed at the General Affairs Council earlier this week and I insist that it is absolutely vital for member states to quickly agree on a common approach based on our recommendation. Citizens are currently facing a patchwork of rules, it is time to bring order to this," the Commissioner warned.
"But with the COVID-19 vaccine still months away, I am deeply concerned about what I see now and what we may see in the coming weeks and months," he said. "We need to know that even a vaccine will not be a silver bullet. We are the first line of defence against COVID and our self-discipline in how we observe the measures will determine in the coming months. We must prevent a situation where governments have no choice but to re-impose generalised exclusions. This will be detrimental to our economies, our children's education and our daily lives - not to mention our mental well-being," he noted.
Source: eyenews/KYPE
