EU seeks to boost rapid Covid tests to avoid travel chaos

EU regulators offered member governments guidelines on speedy testing for the coronavirus in the latest effort to prevent national health measures from hindering the free movement of people across the bloc. The EC recommendation covers the use of rapid antigen tests for detecting Covid-19 in “specific settings.” The commission also urged EU governments to recognize each other’s test results and approved E35.5m for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to expand testing in the bloc. “Testing tells us what the extent of the spread is, where it is and how it develops,” EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said Wednesday in Brussels. “It is a decisive tool to slow down the spread of Covid-19.” The coronavirus pandemic has exposed fundamental shortcomings in the way the EU can tackle international health emergencies, prompting pleas by airlines and airports for more coordinated action. National governments in the bloc have the prime responsibility for health policies that, in a crisis, can undermine the prized European single market. National border closures and curbs on the export of medical gear within the EU during the spring galvanized the commission, the 27-nation EU’s regulatory arm, into actions meant to create a more coherent response. The results included special highway lanes to ensure trucks could cross national borders; curbs on the sale outside the EU of personal protective equipment; the joint procurement of any successful Covid-19 vaccines; and a common approach to imposing restrictions on visitors from abroad. Story lists some of the commission’s recommendations.<br/>