Brussels: EU health ministers met on Tuesday as national governments step up measures to try to curb the Omicron Covid-19 variant spreading across Europe as winter closes in.
The gathering was expected to aim for greater coordination of bloc-wide measures in response, such as travel recommendations, and to hear pleas to accelerate vaccinations. "I will be calling on all health ministers to close the immunisation gap to increase their vaccination rollout programmes and... adhere to non-pharmaceutical measures (like) wearing masks and social distancing," EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said as she went into the meeting.
"We still don’t know everything about Omicron," German Health Minister Jens Spahn said as he joined EU counterparts in Brussels. "Consequently, travel restrictions (into the EU) are important so as to keep the incidence of the new variant in Europe and in Germany as low as possible," he said.
Member states retain final say on their individual health-related decisions, raising the prospect of a patchwork of restrictions across the 27-nation European Union as Christmas and ski trips loom.
The Omicron issue is the first order of business for an EU summit next week, on December 15 and 16, according to a draft agenda seen by AFP. While questions about Omicron’s severity and ability to escape immunity cannot be answered for a couple more weeks, initial data confirm its high transmissibility.
For instance, Denmark on the weekend reported a tripling of confirmed Omicron cases within 48 hours. And former EU member Britain identified 336 cases as of Monday -- a doubling in 48 hours.
First detected in southern Africa two weeks ago, Omicron cases are now recorded in more than 40 countries. Most of those cases initially were tracked to travellers from Africa, but now there are clusters of infections suggesting community spread.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Monday there were a total 212 Omicron cases across the EU and in associated countries Iceland and Norway. The biggest number of cases were in Portugal with 34, Denmark with 32, France on 25 and 19 in Norway. Given its exponential rise, the ECDC has said it expects Omicron to become the dominant strain in Europe within months. While the EU is putting greater emphasis on vaccinations, there is realisation that jabs alone are not enough.
As well as reinforcing the use of masks, social distancing and adequate ventilation, the EU is advancing with Covid-19 treatments. On Tuesday, the European Commission approved another of those synthetic treatments for critical patients, sold as Actemra or RoActemra by Roche, according to the Swiss-based company.
Meanwhile, Austria’s partial Covid lockdown will end next week but unvaccinated people will still face restrictions, the country’s chancellor said, as cases decrease following a dramatic spike last month.
Officials imposed a slew of measures on November 22 as new infections spiralled, straining hospitals and prompting the government to make Covid vaccines compulsory from February 2022.
Chancellor Karl Nehammer said a "positive trend" in recent infections meant the restrictions will end on Monday but the unvaccinated will remain banned from leaving home for non-essential reasons.
Those who cannot show an antibody certificate following a recent infection will face the same restrictions. Under current rules, Austrians can only leave home to buy essentials, exercise or receive medical care. Schools remain open but non-essential shops, restaurants, concert halls and cinemas are shut.
Nehammer, who was sworn in as chancellor on Monday, acknowledged the "strain" of the pandemic and that "for many, the limit of what is bearable has been overstepped". The government is due to present its roadmap out of restrictions on Wednesday. Nehammer said his administration would be "as prudent as possible". According to official figures published on Tuesday, Austria recorded more than 4,200 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours.
In a related development, a German man killed his wife and three children before taking his own life, leaving behind a note that said he feared being jailed for faking a Covid-19 health pass, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
All five bodies were found in the family´s home in Koenigs Wusterhausen outside Berlin on Saturday, Brandenburg state prosecutors said. The 40-year-old father said in the note that he had secured a fake coronavirus vaccine pass for his wife.
But her boss spotted the fraud and planned to investigate, Cottbus prosecutors´ spokesman Gernot Bantleon told AFP. "The father expected that he and his wife would be jailed and their children taken away," Bantleon said.