EU looks to mobile apps as part of exit strategy
THE European Union has moved to make sure countries do not ease their coronavirus restrictions too early or out of sync with other member states, sparking a potentially disastrous surge of the virus.
Contact tracing mobile apps and self-testing kits are among the measures being considered to get the continent out of the health emergency.
With Austria, the Czech Republic and Denmark already lifting some lockdown measures, the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, rushed out a road map for members to coordinate an exit from the lockdowns, which they expect should take at least a few months and involve large-scale testing.
The commission said scientists in European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control should be relied upon to guide national exit strategies in the weeks and months to come.
‘This is not a signal that confinement, containment measures can be lifted as of now,’ European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
The ‘Joint European Road Map towards lifting Covid-19 containment measures’ lays out that timing and the collection of accurate data is crucial in determining when and how to relax restrictions.
The EU recommends the use of mobile apps for contact tracing and warning. The roadmap document states: ‘Mobile applications that warn citizens of an increased risk due to contact with a person tested positive for COVID-19 are particularly relevant in the phase of lifting containment measures, when the infection risk grows as more and more people get in contact with each other.
‘As experienced by other countries dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, these applications can help interrupt infection chains and reduce the risk of further virus transmission. They should thus be an important element in the strategies put in
place by Member States.’