Yahoo News Coronavirus: EU warns of chaos if restrictions are lifted too soon
The European Union has warned of potential chaos if coronavirus restrictions are lifted too soon.
The bloc told its 27 nations to move cautiously as they return to normal life and to base their actions on scientific advice.
The warning comes after Austria, the Czech Republic and Denmark lifted some lockdown measures.
The European Commission has now rushed out a road map to help members of the trade bloc to coordinate an exit from the lockdowns, which they expect should take at least a few months and involve large-scale testing.
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About 80,000 people have died in Europe from COVID-19, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control – two-thirds of the global toll.
The commission said scientists should be relied upon to guide national exit strategies in the weeks and months to come.
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European Council president Charles Michel's office requested last-minute changes to wording on the road map text, Politico reported.
In a draft of the text, the commission urged different nations to co-operate, adding: "A lack of coordination in lifting restrictive measures risks having negative effects for all Member States and is likely to give rise to political friction."
Politico suggested this showed a strain in relationships between officials.
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Brussels is deeply concerned about the damage that could be done if each EU nation charts its own course, given the panic that ensued after the pandemic first spread in Italy, when unannounced border closures sparked massive traffic jams and export bans that deprived hard-hit countries of medical equipment.
EU countries are split in their approach.
France this week renewed its lockdown until 11 May, and Belgium appears to be heading in a similar direction, while Spain recently renewed its state of emergency for the second time for an additional two weeks.
“This is not – it is not – a signal that confinement, containment measures can be lifted as of now,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said, highlighting the need for clear communication across the bloc as countries emerge from quarantine.
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Warning that lifting restrictions will “unavoidably lead to a corresponding increase in new cases”, the commission said the process should only start when the spread of the disease has dropped significantly and for some time, and when hospitals can cope with more patients.
While the commission, which proposes EU laws and ensures they are enforced, does not spell out exactly how EU countries should make the transition, the road map does underline that “action should be gradual”.
Business operations should be phased in by sectors, social distancing should be maintained and there should be no general return to work, it says.
It adds shops could gradually reopen, with possible limits on the number of people who could enter, and school could start again, although it recommends smaller classes to allow pupils to work at a safer distance from each other.
Elderly people should be protected for longer, while restaurants, bars and cinemas could resume business with restricted opening hours and limits on the number of people who could enter, it says.
Measures blocking mass gatherings like festivals and concerts would be among the last to be lifted under the plans.
Brussels says a gap of around one month should be left between any steps to monitor their impact.
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