March 25, 2020 Yesterday, the Commission adopted decisions on harmonised standards which will allow manufacturers to place on the market high performing devices to protect patients, health care professionals and citizens in general. The standards will facilitate a faster and less expensive conformity assessment procedure. The revised harmonised standards play a pivotal role in the current coronavirus pandemic because they relate to critical devices* such as: medical face masks surgical drapes, gowns and suits washer-disinfectors sterilisation Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health said: “We must...

Read more

March 19, 2020 With the outbreak of COVID-19, we have seen the proliferation of significant quantities of news, myths, and disinformation about it – coming from various sources both within and outside of the European Union. The World Health Organisation has stated that the outbreak of and response to COVID-19 has been accompanied by a massive “infodemic”, which the WHO describes as an over-abundance of information – some accurate and some not – rendering it difficult to find trustworthy sources...

Read more

23/03/2020 - 18:22 COVID-19 will reshape our world. We don’t yet know when the crisis will end. But we can be sure that by the time it does, our world will look very different. How different will depend on the choices we make today. “COVID-10 will reshape our world. We don’t yet know when the crisis will end. But we can be sure that by the time it does, our world will look very different.” – Josep Borrell,  The COVID-19 crisis is...

Read more

Commits policy support, saying efforts must have “Ambition of Marshall Plan, vision of New Deal” 21/03/2020 - OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría called today for sweeping joint action by governments to defeat the health, economic, and social threats of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.  In calling on governments to better coordinate their efforts, Gurría announced that the OECD would channel its efforts into immediate support to policymakers combating the crisis, launching a new online policy hub immediately. “The coronavirus pandemic is a public health...

Read more