European Commission Strategy for Winter during COVID-19

European Commission Strategy for Winter during COVID-19

The European Commission released yesterday a strategy on “Staying safe from COVID-19 during winter”.

From the strategy, we would like to highlight the following:

• Travel measures
  • The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) do not recommend quarantine and/or testing for air travellers for SARS-CoV-2 when travelling to/from zones with a similar epidemiological situation.
  • What is important is to improve information flow including simple procedures for passenger locator forms where possible digitalised; an effective link between cross-border information and contact tracing capacities in the community, in full respect of data protection rules; and coordinated communication between aviation stakeholders and public health authorities, as well as tourism accommodation establishment.
  • Ensure that if quarantine and testing of travellers is requested, these requirements are proportionate, non-discriminatory, clearly communicated and easily followed, and assess how testing can lead to lifting of quarantine or other restrictions for travellers
  • Where quarantine requirements are imposed for travel from a high-risk area, consider shortening required quarantine time should a negative PCR test be obtained after 7 days upon return
  •  If Member States opt to maintain or introduce travel related quarantines, they should do so in line with the principles of Council Recommendation 2020/1475 on a coordinated approach to the restrictions of free movement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Join the exchange platform developed by EASA to enhance contact tracing capabilities based on Passenger Locator Form (PLFs) and support efforts towards a common EU digital PLF.

• Testing and contact tracing:
  • The European Commission encourages the easy and free access to testing for citizens with quick results
  • It is very relevant to strengthen the deployment of digital contact tracing and warning Apps or manual contract tracing if more appropriat

We would also like to inform you that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDPC) and EASA issued yesterday their joint guidelines for COVID-19 testing and quarantine of air travellers. The following points should be considered:

• Quarantine or systematic testing for SARS-CoV-2 of air travellers is not recommended in the current epidemiological situation (as mentioned in the Commission Communication)
• Member States should deploy an harmonised approach
• Children under two years of age should be exempt from testing. For children above the age of two, Member States may consider alternative validated sample collection methods.