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On her first overseas trip in a long time (with the exception of her home country, Germany) to Portugal early last week, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, contacted a person who turned out to have covid-19.
The meeting was on Tuesday last week. This weekend she received information about the infected person and decided to remain in quarantine until Tuesday night. Belgium relaxed its quarantine rules on October 1 and now recommends a week.
Previously, the country had two weeks, which is in line with what is recommended by the ECDC, the EU Agency for Communicable Disease Control, as well as the World Health Organization, WHO.
Therefore, Ursula von der Leyen was quarantined on Monday and Tuesday, showing no symptoms of illness. She worked from her office in Brussels, but did not attend a summit with the prime minister of Ukraine and canceled an upcoming business trip to Greece.
https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1313010668048732160
– The routine is simple. The president, her staff and those who work near her are tested every Monday and Thursday, says Eric Mamer, a spokesman for the European Commission.
If von der Leyen were still infected with the coronavirus, it could have major consequences. On Thursday of last week, he participated in an EU summit with the Heads of State and Government of the Member States. In the published images of the encounter, everyone wears a mouth guard and salutes with the elbow. Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven was not present at the meeting because he was at his mother’s funeral.
The coronavirus spreads now within the EU institutions, reports the Euractiv news site. On Monday, the Commission announced that 159 people had tested positive for COVID-19. They did not want to say how many were in quarantine. According to Euractiv, the infection rate has risen to more than 170.
The European Commission, the institution that submits the invoices, has around 30,000 employees.
The European Parliament, with just over 7,000 employees, does not report how many are infected. But at least one person died in covid-19. In Parliament, most people work remotely and the number of MEPs who are allowed to participate in debates is limited. Parliament has also temporarily suspended its sessions in Strasbourg, France.
However, new cases are reported of covid-19 in the large group of the Christian Democratic Party EPP, which includes M and KD. At a private dinner with EPP politicians and their aides recently, 17 people are said to have been infected, according to Euractiv.
In September, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, was quarantined because a security guard was infected. This led to the summit being postponed for a week.
Brussels belongs to one of the most affected cities in Europe. Corona infection continues to spread rapidly with around 460 new cases daily in recent weeks. Hospital intensive care units are starting to run out and patients are being sent to other parts of the country.
Read more: Finland represents Sweden at EU summit – to push for sanctions against Lukashenko
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