European health chiefs greeted each other with elbow bumps and by placing their hands on their heart today as coronavirus fears rise.
An emergency meeting held in Brussels today aims to boost the EU’s collective response to the novel coronavirus as it sweeps across the continent.
Health ministers from Croatia, France, Greece and Cyprus were pictured taking precautionary measures by greeting with elbow bumps instead of traditional handshakes.
It comes a day after US Vice President Mike Pence bumped elbows with Washington State Governor Jay Inslee and other top state officials after arriving to discuss the state’s efforts to combat the fast-spreading coronavirus.
Freemasons have also been told to avoid their so-called ‘special handshakes’ over fears that the mysterious practice could pass on COVID-2019.
The United Grand Lodge of England has written to thousands of members to advise them against physical contact during secret initiation ceremonies.
European health chiefs greeted each other with elbow bumps at an emergency meeting being held in Brussels today. Pictured, Croatian Health Minister Vili Beros, right, bumps elbows to say hello to French Health Minister Olivier Veran
European Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides, center, and European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic, right, put their hands over their hearts in a gesture of hello to German Health Minister Jens Spahn during an extraordinary meeting of EU health ministers
Greek Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias, left, bumps elbows to say hello to Cypriot Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou as they laugh
Fearing a possible shortage in protective equipment, health ministers from the European Union are holding an emergency meeting to try to improve their collective response to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
While Italy is the hardest-hit country in Europe, more than 4,000 confirmed cases have been recorded across the 27-nation bloc.
The epidemic has been spreading at a quicker pace over the past two weeks, leading the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) to raise the risk of coronavirus infection from moderate to high.
The last time EU health ministers met, on Feb 13, no death had been reported in Europe.
According to the latest figures released by the ECDC, 112 people have now died from the virus on the continent.
‘Today is about solidarity, preparedness, and about coordination,’ said Stella Kyriakides, the European Commissioner for health.
Europe largely relies on China and India for drugs and protective equipment.
Many European countries agree that the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, should speed up the joint procurement process it launched two weeks ago that allows the EU to buy urgent medical supplies for its members.
As contagion fears have led to shortages of face masks and sanitising hand gels, French President Emmanuel Macron said this week the government is requisitioning all current and future stocks of protective masks.
‘We don’t have enough protective masks,’ said Czech health minister Adam Vojtech as he joined the meeting.
‘The problem is that the demand is much higher than the supply. A third of the world’s production of drugs is located in China and also in India, which as far as I know also has stopped exports of drugs recently.’
Croatian Health Minister Vili Beros said the meeting should also help member states to better coordinate measures taken at national level that differ from one country to the other.
Italy, for instance, has closed all schools and universities and barred fans from all sporting events for the next few weeks.
In neighboring France, the Paris-Nice bike race will go ahead as planned this weekend, while soccer games continue to be played in Belgium.
‘We should emphasize the importance of communication between member states and toward the public,’ Beros said. ‘That can help us fight the disease.’
Asked about the bloc’s dependence on medical chains in China and India, Danish health minister Magnus Heunicke said the EU should consider building a new strategy in the long term. But ‘right now, we are focusing on making sure we have the medicine we need.’