Contain Covid! Confine Covid as soon as possible
The spread of the new variants of Sars-Cov-2 is extremely worrying. But even without these new mutants, the numbers in Europe remain too high to effectively conduct a functional contact tracing and thus limit the spread of the virus.
We must not be under the illusion that it is the right time for relaxations and openings. To avoid a constant ping-pong of lockdowns and thereby losing the trust and patience of citizens, we must take comprehensive action now to finally contain the virus. Europe is not an island like New Zealand or Taiwan, but we are one epidemiological area, within the Schengen borders. If we act in a coordinated way, we can keep our internal borders open, which is so important for the functioning of the internal market.
Together with other MEPs, I have therefore called on the European Commission and the Council to follow the scientific advice and implement as soon as possible the call to contain Covid, which is supported by hundreds of scientists across Europe.
For more information on the proposed actions and supporting literature, see: