• February 27, 2020
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Countries tighten security as COVID-19 spreads in Europe

Reported cases of COVID-19 in Europe have surged by 25% in the past 24 hours. As of time of writing, 400 cases have been so far confirmed in Italy, the most affected country in Europe. At least 12 have died in Italy because of the outbreak, most of which are elderly.

The United Kingdom has reported 13 cases, while Spain has 10 and Germany has 21 confirmed cases. France has recorded 18 cases with 2 deaths, one of which is a French national and the other a Chinese tourist. Austria, Greece, Switzerland, Croatia, Norway, North Macedonia, and Georgia have also all confirmed their first cases. Majority of the reported cases in the rest of the European Union are so far people who have been to northern Italy or Italian nationals themselves.

 “We are at the beginning of a coronavirus epidemic in Germany,” warned German Health Minister Jens Spahn.

Spain's Health Minister Salvador Illa late on Tuesday advised people not to travel to northern Italy and other global hotspots for the disease such as Wuhan in China, South Korea, Japan and Iran unless necessary.

Heightened precautionary measures have been enacted across Europe. Special gates for medical screening have been put up at airports and some passengers were advised to self-isolate. So far, flights to and from Italy have not been banned yet.

Borders in the Schengen free travel zone remain open as well. In a meeting in Rome on Tuesday, 25 February, the European Union’s health ministers said they are not keen on closing frontiers completely, saying that such an action would be a “disproportionate and ineffective” measure against a virus that “doesn’t respect borders.”

Under Schengen rules, member countries have the discretion to tighten border controls over matters of serious threat to internal security or public policy. This move, however, is seen as a last resort and its duration is restricted to the minimum necessary to address the problem.