EU moves to single risk code for virus

BRUSSELS－The European Union's member states on Tuesday adopted a common color code to define the levels of risk related to the coronavirus outbreak. The move is aimed at making it easier for Europeans to manage their lives as more movement restrictions come in to counter a resurgence in infections.

"Travel restrictions have made it difficult for some of our citizens to get to work, to university or to visit their loved ones," said Michael Roth, minister of state for Europe at the German Federal Foreign Office.

"It is our common duty to ensure coordination on any measures which affect free movement and to give our citizens all the information they need when deciding on their travel." Germany holds the rotating presidency of the EU.

The colors green, orange and red will be used to determine the status of each European region on a single map updated weekly with data provided by member states. Gray will be used for regions without sufficient data. The map will be maintained by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

Travelers from green regions will be free to go wherever they wish, whereas travelers from red, orange and gray regions might need to undergo quarantine and testing. The recommendation applies to all 27 EU countries, as well as Britain during the transition period. The map will also include Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

More European countries have been tightening rules to cope with a resurgence in COVID-19 infections.

The Netherlands was due to return to a "partial lockdown" on Wednesday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced on Tuesday, in what could be the most aggressive measure taken by a European government to fight the flare-up.

Starting at 10 pm on Wednesday, cafes and restaurants in the Netherlands would be closed. Take-away services will still be allowed, and hotels can remain open, but restricted to guests only.

Apart from the Netherlands, other European countries such as Italy, the Czech Republic and Latvia are adding new restrictions to limit the spread of coronavirus, as some of them have recorded the highest daily cases ever in the past week.

Russia reported a record daily high of 14,231 cases on Wednesday, pushing its total number of infections to 1,340,409. The country's coronavirus task force said that 239 people had died in the latest 24-hour period, bringing the death toll to 23,205.

Globally, there were 38,141,034 confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,086,315 deaths as of Wednesday, according to a tally kept by the Johns Hopkins University in the United States.

Clusters emerging

In the Asia-Pacific region, several coronavirus clusters have emerged in Australia's two most populous states, officials said on Wednesday, prompting the biggest, New South Wales, to delay easing some restrictions. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she was concerned the state was on the cusp of another major community transmission, after 11 new cases were locally acquired and a cluster appeared in the southwest Sydney suburb of Lakemba.

She said the easing of some social restrictions involving restaurants and weddings would be put on hold.

Israel's special Cabinet for handling the COVID-19 pandemic decided on Tuesday to extend by five days the nationwide lockdown. The measure, which started on Sept 18 and was originally supposed to be lifted on Wednesday, will be extended until midnight on Sunday, a government spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the World Bank has approved $12 billion in financing to help developing countries buy and distribute coronavirus vaccines, tests, and treatments, aiming to support the vaccination of up to 1 billion people. The "envelop" is part of a wider package of up to $160 billion to help developing countries fight the pandemic, the bank said in a statement.

Xinhua - Agencies